Pinnacle Systems Symphony - 3.0 User Manual

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Avid® Symphony™

Basics Guide

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Avid

Legal Notices

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

The software described in this document is furnished under a license agreement. You can obtain a copy of that license by visiting Avid's Web site at www.avid.com. The terms of that license are also available in the product in the same directory as the software. The software may not be reverse assembled and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of the license agreement. It is against the law to copy the software on any medium except as specifically allowed in the license agreement.

Avid products or portions thereof are protected by one or more of the following United States Patents: 4,970,663; 5,267,351; 5,309,528; 5,355,450; 5,396,594; 5,440,348; 5,467,288; 5,513,375; 5,528,310; 5,557,423; 5,568,275; 5,577,190; 5,584,006; 5,640,601; 5,644,364; 5,654,737; 5,715,018; 5,724,605; 5,726,717; 5,729,673; 5,745,637; 5,752,029; 5,754,851; 5,799,150; 5,812,216; 5,852,435; 5,584,006; 5,905,841; 5,929,836; 5,930,445; 5,946,445; 5,987,501; 6,016,152; 6,018,337; 6,023,531; 6,058,236; 6,061,758; 6,091,778; 6,105,083; 6,118,444; 6,134,607; 6,141,691; 6,198,477; 6,201,531; 6,223,211; 6,249,280; 6,269,195; 6,317,158; 6,317,515; 6,330,369; 6,351,557; 6,353,862; 6,357,047; 6,392,710; 6,404,435; 6,407,775; 6,417,891; 6,426,778; 6,477,271; 6,489,969; 6,512,522; 6,532,043; 6,546,190; 6,552,731; 6,553,142; 6,570,624; 6,571,255; 6,583,824; 6,618,547; 6,636,869; 6,665,450; 6,678,461; 6,687,407; 6,704,445; 6,747,705; 6,763,134; 6,766,063; 6,791,556; 6,810,157; 6,813,622; 6,847,373; 6,871,003; 6,871,161; 6,901,211; 6,907,191; 6,928,187; 6,933,948; 6,961,801; 7,043,058; 7,081,900; 7,103,231; 7,266,241; 7,280,117; RE40,107; D392,269; D396,853; D398,912. Other patents are pending.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The following disclaimer is required by the Independent JPEG Group:

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

This Software may contain components licensed under the following conditions:

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

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

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

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

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

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

The following disclaimer is required by Nexidia Inc.:

Manufactured under license from the Georgia Tech Research Corporation, U.S.A. Patent Pending.

The following disclaimer is required by Paradigm Matrix:

Portions of this software licensed from Paradigm Matrix.

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

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

The following disclaimer is required by Videomedia, Inc.:

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

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

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

The following disclaimer is required by Ultimatte Corporation:

Certain real-time compositing capabilities are provided under a license of such technology from Ultimatte Corporation and are subject to copyright protection.

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

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

The following disclaimer is required by Interplay Entertainment Corp.:

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

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

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

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

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

Attn. Government User(s). Restricted Rights Legend

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

Trademarks

888 I/O, Adrenaline, AirPlay, AirSPACE, AirSPACE HD, AirSpeed, ALEX, Alexis, AniMatte, AudioSuite, AudioVision, AutoSync, Avid, Avid Advanced Response, Avid DNA, Avid DNxcel, Avid DNxHD, AVIDdrive, AVIDdrive Towers, Avid DS Assist Station, Avid ISIS, Avid Learning Excellerator, Avid Liquid, Avid Mojo, AvidNet, AvidNetwork, Avid Remote Response, AVIDstripe, Avid Unity, Avid Unity ISIS, Avid Xpress, AVoption, AVX, CamCutter, CaptureManager, ChromaCurve, ChromaWheel, Conectiv, CountDown, DAE, Dazzle, Deko, DekoCast, D-Fi, D-fx, DigiDelivery, Digidesign, Digidesign Audio Engine, Digidesign Intelligent Noise Reduction, DigiDrive, Digital Nonlinear Accelerator, DigiTranslator, DINR, DNxchange, do more, D-Verb, Equinox, ExpertRender, Face Robot, FACE ROBOT, FastBreak, Fast Track, FieldPak, Film Composer, FilmScribe, FluidMotion, FXDeko, HIIP, HyperSPACE, HyperSPACE HDCAM, IllusionFX, Image Independence, iNEWS, iNEWS ControlAir, Instinct, Interplay, Intraframe, iS9, iS18, iS23, iS36, ISIS, IsoSync, LaunchPad, Lightning, Lo-Fi, Magic Mask, make manage move | media, Marquee, Matador, Maxim, MCXpress, Media Browse, Media Composer, MediaDock, MediaDock Shuttle, Media Fusion, Media Illusion, MediaLog, Media Reader, Media Recorder, MEDIArray, MediaShare, MediaStream, Meridien, MetaFuze, MetaSync, MicroTrack, MissionControl, MovieBox, NaturalMatch, Nearchive, NetReview, NewsCutter, Nitris, OMF, OMF Interchange, OMM, Open Media Framework, Open Media Management, PCTV, Pinnacle MediaSuite, Pinnacle Studio, Pinnacle Systems, ProEncode, Pro Tools, QuietDrive, Recti-Fi, RetroLoop, rS9, rS18, SalesView, Sci-Fi, ScriptSync, SecureProductionEnvironment, Show Center, Softimage, Sound Designer II, SPACE, SPACEShift, SpectraGraph, SpectraMatte, Sputnik, SteadyGlide, SubCap, Symphony, SynchroScience, TARGA, Thunder, Thunder Station, TimeLiner, Torq, Trilligent, UnityRAID, Vari-Fi, Velvet, Video RAID, Video Slave Driver, VideoSPACE, Xdeck, and X-Session are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.

Footage

Arri — Courtesy of Arri/Fauer — John Fauer, Inc. Bell South “Anticipation” — Courtesy of Two Headed Monster — Tucker/Wayne Atlanta/GMS. Canyonlands — Courtesy of the National Park Service/Department of the Interior. Eco Challenge British Columbia — Courtesy of Eco Challenge Lifestyles, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Eco Challenge Morocco — Courtesy of Discovery Communications, Inc. It’s Shuttletime — Courtesy of BCP & Canadian Airlines. Nestlé Coffee Crisp — Courtesy of MacLaren McCann Canada. Saturn “Calvin Egg” — Courtesy of Cossette Communications. “Tigers: Tracking a Legend” — Courtesy of www.wildlifeworlds.com, Carol Amore, Executive Producer. "The Big Swell" — Courtesy of Swell Pictures, Inc. Windhorse — Courtesy of Paul Wagner Productions.

Arizona Images — KNTV Production — Courtesy of Granite Broadcasting, Inc., Editor/Producer Bryan Foote. Canyonlands — Courtesy of the National Park Service/Department of the Interior. Ice Island — Courtesy of Kurtis Productions, Ltd. Tornados + Belle Isle footage — Courtesy of KWTV News 9. WCAU Fire Story — Courtesy of NBC-10, Philadelphia, PA. Women in Sports – Paragliding — Courtesy of Legendary Entertainment, Inc.

GOT FOOTAGE?

Editors — Filmmakers — Special Effects Artists — Game Developers — Animators — Educators — Broadcasters — Content creators of every genre — Just finished an incredible project and want to share it with the world?

Send us your reels and we may use your footage in our show reel or demo!*

For a copy of our release and Avid’s mailing address, go to www.avid.com/footage.

*Note: Avid cannot guarantee the use of materials submitted.

Avid Symphony Basics Guide • 0130-07974-01 • June 2008

Using This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Symbols and Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

If You Need Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Accessing the Online Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Accessing the Goodies Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

How to Order Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Avid Training Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Chapter 1 Editing Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Editing Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Starting a Project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Preparing to Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Editing a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Outputting a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Chapter 2 Starting a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Turning on Your Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Working with the Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Using the Windows Taskbar (Windows Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Using the Macintosh Dock (Macintosh Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Using Shortcut Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Using the Keyboard for Navigating in Dialog Boxes and Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Using the Mouse Scroll Wheel for Navigating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Customizing Mouse Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Suggestions for Optimum Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Turn Off File Sharing (Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Optimum Performance (Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Antivirus Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Starting Your Avid Editing Application (Windows). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Starting Your Avid Editing Application (Macintosh). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Working with Projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Select Project Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Creating a New Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Project Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Raster Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Raster Sizes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Setting Film Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Opening an Existing Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Browsing for a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Opening a Project Automatically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Closing a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Deleting a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Quitting Your Avid Editing Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Turning Off Your Equipment After Quitting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Avid Projects and Avid Users Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Changing Project and User Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Backing Up Your Project Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Saving Your Project Information on a Drive or on Removable Media . . . . . . . . 67

Restoring from a Backup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Avid Attic Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Retrieving Files from the Avid Attic Folder (Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Retrieving Files from the Avid Attic Folder (Macintosh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Using Toolsets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Opening Toolsets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Customizing Toolsets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Linking Toolsets to Other Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Chapter 3 Working with the Project Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Project Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Controlling Project Window Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Using the Bins Tab in the Project Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Viewing a List of Bins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Creating a New Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Renaming a Bin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Opening and Closing Bins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Displaying Folders of Bins in the Bins List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Deleting a Bin or Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Viewing Contents in the Trash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Emptying the Trash in the Bins List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Saving Bins Manually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Using the Settings Tab in the Project Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Using the Format Tab in the Project Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Chapter 4 Preparing for Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Logging and Shot Logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Importing Shot Log Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Preparing the Hardware for Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Getting Information About Striped Drives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Selecting the Sync Source for Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Establishing Sync for Audio-Only Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Selecting Settings for Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Understanding Video Resolutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Selecting Video Resolutions and Media Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Setting Drive Filtering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Configuring Decks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Configuring a Deck or Multiple Decks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Deleting Deck Configuration Elements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Connecting a DV Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Setting Up the Capture Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Opening the Capture Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Selecting a Deck in the Capture Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Activating Playback from an Available Deck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Selecting a Source Tape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Selecting Source Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Setting the Video and Audio Input in the Capture Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Detecting a Valid or Locked Sync Signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Setting the Pulldown Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Film Project Pulldown and Transfer Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Capturing Digital Audio in Film Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Selecting a Resolution in the Capture Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Selecting a Target Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Selecting the Target Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Interpreting the Time-Remaining Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Selecting a Custom Preroll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Preparing for Audio Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Audio Project Settings for Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Selecting the Audio Sample Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Performing Audio Sample Rate Conversion During Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Understanding Audio Files and Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Selecting the Audio File Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Selecting the Audio Input Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Understanding the Audio Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Opening and Sizing the Audio Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Adjusting Audio Input Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Preparing for Video Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Opening the Video Input Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Using the Factory Preset Buttons in the Video Input Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Preparing to Calibrate Video Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Calibrating Video Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Luminance Settings for Video Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Capture Preparations Check List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Chapter 5 Capturing Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Capturing and Logging at the Same Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Naming Clips and Adding Comments in the Capture Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Capturing by Setting Both Marks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Capturing by Setting Only One Mark. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Capturing On-the-Fly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Preparing to Autocapture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Autocapturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Capturing from a Non-Avid-Controlled Deck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Capturing with Time-of-Day Timecode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Capturing Directly from a DV Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Frame Chase Capture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Understanding Frame Chase Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Enabling Frame Chase Capture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Requirements and Guidelines for Frame Chase Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Batch Capturing from Logged Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Preparing to Batch Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Batch Capturing Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Recapturing Your Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Saving Two Versions of a Sequence When Recapturing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Using Decompose When Recapturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Recapturing the Sequence Without Using Decompose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Chapter 6 Importing Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Preparing to Import Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Creating and Modifying Import Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Importing Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Importing Audio Files from a Music CD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Using the Drag-and-Drop Method to Import Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Reimporting Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Batch Import Dialog Box: Reference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Chapter 7 Working with Bins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Setting the Bin Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Object Icons in Bins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Understanding Bin Highlight Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Bin Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Using Brief View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Using Text View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Using Frame View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Using Script View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Basic Bin Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Using the Bin Fast Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Selecting Clips and Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Duplicating Clips and Sequences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Moving Clips and Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Copying Clips and Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Deleting Bin Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Changing the Bin Background Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Working with the SuperBin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Enabling and Disabling the SuperBin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Opening Bins in the SuperBin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Closing the SuperBin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Moving Bins into and out of the SuperBin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Moving Clips and Sequences into and out of the SuperBin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Copying Clips and Sequences into and out of the SuperBin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Deleting a Bin with the SuperBin Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Creating a Storyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Chapter 8 Managing Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Working with Media Files in an Avid Interplay Environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Configuring Avid Editing Systems for the Interplay Engine and

Interplay Transfer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Using Avid Editing Systems in an Avid Workgroup Environment . . . . . . . . . . 187

Disconnecting an Avid Editing Application from the Interplay Environment . . . . . . 188

Voluntarily Disconnecting from the Interplay Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Limitations of Disconnected Client Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Using Disconnected Client Mode with Network Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Using Avid Editing Systems in an Avid Unity LANshare Workgroup . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Viewing Media with a 100Base-T Connection to Avid Unity ISIS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Understanding Drive Mounting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Mounting and Unmounting Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Using the Media Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Basic Media Tool Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Using the Media Tool in an Avid Interplay Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Opening the Media Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Deleting Media Files with the Media Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Consolidating Media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Understanding the Consolidate Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Using the Consolidate Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Consolidate Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Using the Transcode Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Transcode Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Loading the Media Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Refreshing Media Directories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Deleting Unreferenced Clips and Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Backing Up Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Chapter 9 Viewing and Marking Footage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Viewing Methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Customizing the Composer Window and Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Resizing the Composer Window and Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Using the 16:9 Display Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Displaying Tracking Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Tracking Format Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Playing Video to the Client Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Selecting the Video Display Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Loading and Clearing Footage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Loading Clips or Sequences into Monitors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Switching Between Loaded Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

Clearing Clips from Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Controlling Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Using Position Bars and Position Indicators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Playback Control Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Stepping Forward and Backward by Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Playback Control Using the Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Playing Footage with the J-K-L Keys (Three-Button Play) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Using the Mouse for Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Video Quality Options for Playback. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Setting the Video Quality for Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Marking and Subcataloging Footage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Marking IN and OUT Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Marking an Entire Clip or Segment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

Creating Subclips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

Creating Subsequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

Subclips and Audio Sync for 24p and 25p Projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

Marking Audio Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

Finding Frames, Clips, and Bins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Using Timecode to Find a Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

Searching for a Clip or Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

Understanding Match Frame. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Using Match Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Performing a Reverse Match Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Selecting Tracks for Matching Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Finding a Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Locating a Master Clip from a Subclip in a Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Finding a Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

Chapter 10 Creating and Editing Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

Entering Source/Record Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Creating a New Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Changing the Name and Timecode for a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Track Display for New Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Adding Filler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Making a First Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Creating an Instant Rough Cut. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Undoing or Redoing Edits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

Editing Additional Clips into the Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Performing an Insert or Splice-in Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Performing an Overwrite Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Performing a Replace Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Enabling Single-Mark Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Mixing Video Formats in a Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Working with Interlaced Clips in Progressive Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Lifting, Extracting, and Copying Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

Lifting Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

Extracting Material. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Copying Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

The Avid Clipboard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Using the Clipboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Playing Back a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Sync Breaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Tips for Avoiding Sync Breaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Customizing Sync Break Display in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Fixing Sync Breaks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Tips for Fixing Sync Breaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Chapter 11 Using the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Customizing Timeline Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Examples of Customized Timeline Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Using the Timeline Fast Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

Timeline Fast Menu Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

Enlarging and Reducing Timeline Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Moving Timeline Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Highlighting Offline Media Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Highlighting Clips in a Mixed-Format (SD and HD) Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Managing Customized Timeline Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Navigating in the Timeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282

Understanding the Timeline Position Indicator and Scroll Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

Switching to the Timeline Position Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Setting the Scroll Option for the Timeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Zooming and Focusing in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Controlling Movement in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Using Segment Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Guidelines for Editing in Segment Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Selecting and Deselecting Segments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Four-Frame Display in Segment Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Suppressing Four-Frame Display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

Maintaining Sync in Segment Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Editing Segments in Segment Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Moving Segments with Drag and Drop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

Deleting Segments in Segment Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

Marking Clips and Sequences in Segment Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

Cutting, Copying, and Pasting in the Timeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

Working with Multiple Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

Understanding the Track Selector Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

Selecting Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Understanding Track Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Monitoring and Soloing Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Patching Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

Understanding Locking and Sync Locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Locking and Sync Locking Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

Adding and Deleting Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Backtiming Edits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

Chapter 12 Working in Trim Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

Understanding Trim Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

Trim Settings Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312

Entering Trim Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313

Setting Small Trim Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

Exiting Trim Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

Using Basic Trim Procedures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

Selecting Trim Sides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

Selecting Video Tracks in Trim Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

Soloing Audio in Trim Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

Selecting Additional Transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

Performing a Basic Trim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

Reviewing Trim Edits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Trimming On-the-Fly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322

Using Dual-Image Playback During Trims. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322

Trimming During a Playback Loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

Chapter 13 Working with Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325

Overview of Audio Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

Accessing Audio Effect Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

Using Audio Timecode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

Using Audio Scrub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

Selecting Tracks for Audio Scrubbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

Performing Smooth Audio Scrub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

Adjusting Digital Scrub Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

Performing Digital Audio Scrub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

Soloing Audio Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Audio Displays in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

Displaying Audio Waveforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

Identifying Sample Rates by Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

Using Audio Meters in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

Adjusting Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

Working with Surround Sound or 5.1 Audio (Avid Nitris DX and

Avid Mojo DX Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

Setting Up the Analog Audio Output for Surround Sound (Avid Nitris DX

and Avid Mojo DX Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

Setting Up the Audio Output with HDMI (Avid Nitris DX and

Avid Mojo DX Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

Using the Audio Mixer Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

Accessing the Audio Mixer and Audio Mixer Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

Audio Mixer Tool Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344

Resizing the Audio Mixer Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

Track Selection in the Audio Mixer Tool and in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

Using the Track Solo and Track Mute Buttons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

Interpreting Position Indicator Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

Using Clip Gain and Pan Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349

Adjusting Clip Gain and Pan for Audio Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350

Audio Mixer Fast Menu: Clip Gain and Pan Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

Modifying How Your Avid Editing Application Interprets Pan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

Using the Center Pan Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

Using Automation Gain and Pan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

Using Automation Gain and Pan in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

Deleting Automation Gain or Automation Pan Keyframes in the Timeline . . . . 357

Automation Gain and Pan Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

Understanding Automation Gain or Automation Pan Recording . . . . . . . . . . . 359

Using the Audio Mixer Tool for Automation Gain and Pan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359

Audio Mixer Tool Fast Menu: Automation Gain and Pan Mode . . . . . . . . . . . 361

Using Keyboard Shortcuts with Audio Keyframes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362

Using Live Mix Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

Entering Live Mix Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

Using Live Mix Mode with an External Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

Using Live Mix Mode Without an External Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

Switching Between Live Mix Mode and Other Audio Mixer Modes . . . . . . . . . 365

Audio Mixer Tool Fast Menu: Live Mix Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

Live Mix Mode Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

Isolating Clip Portions for Audio Adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

Fading and Dipping Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369

Fading Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369

Dipping Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

Audio Sample Rate Conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

Changing the Audio Sample Rate for Sequences and Audio Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

Mixing Down Audio Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374

Chapter 14 Working with Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

Types of Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378

Effects Creation Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381

Real-Time Effects and Non-Real-Time Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382

Effects and Project Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

AVX Plug-In Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

Understanding the Effect Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

Displaying and Adjusting the Effect Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385

Applying Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

Applying Effects From the Effect Palette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

Using the Fade Effect Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389

Using the Quick Transition Button. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389

Deleting Effects in a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393

Sizing Effects to Fit the Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394

Adjusting Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

Entering Effect Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

Understanding Effect Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396

Making Basic Effect Adjustments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397

Moving Through an Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398

Working with Effect Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398

Saving an Effect Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398

Applying an Effect Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399

Working with Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400

Understanding Standard Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401

Adding a Standard Keyframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401

Selecting a Standard Keyframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401

Moving a Standard Keyframe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402

Changing a Standard Keyframe’s Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402

Copying and Pasting Standard Keyframe Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403

Deleting a Standard Keyframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403

Playing Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404

Playing an Effect in Effect Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404

Playing Real-Time Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405

Understanding Render On-the-Fly for Effect Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406

Using Render On-the-Fly for Effect Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406

Real-Time Playback of Video Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407

Understanding Real-Time Effects Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407

Understanding Real-Time Playback Information in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . 408

Turning Playback Performance Indicators On or Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409

Options for Controlling Real-Time Effects Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409

Controlling Real-Time Effects Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412

Playing Effects Back at Different Video Qualities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413

Basics of Effects Rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413

Understanding Effects Rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414

Rendering a Single Effect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415

Rendering Effects at Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416

Rendering Effects Between IN and OUT Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417

Displaying Estimated Render Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418

Clearing Rendered Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418

Rerendering Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420

ExpertRender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421

Understanding ExpertRender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421

Using the ExpertRender Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423

Using the ExpertRender Command After a Real-Time

Playback Attempt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425

Modifying ExpertRender Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427

Considerations When Using ExpertRender. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429

Chapter 15 Working with Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431

Opening the Title Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432

Using Marquee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433

Workflow for Creating Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433

Understanding the Title Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434

Using the Selection and Text Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435

Setting Up the Drawing Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436

Previewing Titles with Anti-Aliasing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437

Displaying Safe Title and Safe Action Guidelines in the Title Tool . . . . . . . . . 437

Understanding Title Backgrounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438

Selecting a Background for Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438

Creating Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439

Sizing and Positioning Text Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440

Editing a Text String. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441

Formatting Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441

Setting Default Text Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442

Selecting a Font . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442

Changing Point Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443

Making Text Bold or Italic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444

Justifying Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444

Understanding Kerning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445

Kerning Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445

Adjusting Leading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447

Creating Graphic Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447

Modifying and Manipulating Title Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448

Adding Shadows to Title Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449

Saving Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450

Saving a Title and Exiting the Title Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451

Saving Multiple Titles in a Session. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451

Using a Keyboard Shortcut to Save a Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452

Using the Fast Save Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452

Revising a Title in a Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453

Editing with Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454

Title Effect Clips in Bins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455

Displaying Title Frames in Bins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456

Editing a Title into a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456

Setting Marks in a Rolling Title or a Crawling Title. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457

Splicing or Overwriting a Title into a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457

Dragging a Marked Title into a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458

Dragging an Unmarked Title into a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459

Trimming the Duration of Rolling and Crawling Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460

Removing a Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461

Replacing a Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461

Fading a Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462

Chapter 16 Color Correction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463

How Avid Symphony Color Correction Works. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463

Reasons for Making Color Corrections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466

Color Correction Mode Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466

Entering and Leaving Color Correction Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467

Understanding Color Correction Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467

Switching Between Current and Reference Monitors Using the

Escape Key. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 468

Using Monitor Buttons in Color Correction Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469

The Client Monitor in Color Correction Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469

Color Correction Tool Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470

Making Basic Automatic Color Corrections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470

Correcting Color Automatically Using the Color Correction Effect . . . . . . . . . . 470

Correcting Color Automatically in the Hue Offsets Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472

Automatic Color Correction Buttons in the Hue Offsets Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473

Making a Basic Color Match Correction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473

Making a Manual Primary Color Correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475

Making a Basic Secondary Color Correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476

Safe Color Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478

Managing Safe Color Warnings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478

Safe Color Warnings in the Composer Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479

Chapter 17 Exporting Frames, Clips, or Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481

Understanding Export. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481

Preparing to Export a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482

Exporting Frames, Clips, or Sequences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483

Using the Drag-and-Drop Method for Export . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487

Using Avid Interplay Media Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487

Customizing Export Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488

Chapter 18 Generating Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491

Preparing for Output: Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491

Selecting the Device for Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492

Selecting the Sync Source for Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492

Sync Options for HD Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493

Using LTC Timecode for Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494

Calibrating for Video Output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494

Using the Factory Preset Buttons in the Video Output Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495

Basic Video Output Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495

Luminance Settings for Video Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498

Adjusting Phase Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499

Preparing for Converting HD Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499

Crossconversion and Downconversion Formats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501

Considerations for Crossconversion and Downconversion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502

Preparing for Audio Output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502

Setting the Calibration Tone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502

Calibrating Global Output Levels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503

Setting Audio Output Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505

Enabling 16-Channel Audio Output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507

Embedded Audio and Output Sample Rate Conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508

Preparing Record Tapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508

Striping Record Tapes (Recording Black with Timecode) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509

Recording Bars and Tone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509

Enabling Assemble-Edit Recording. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510

Using ExpertRender to Prepare Effects for a Digital Cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511

Using the Digital Cut Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512

Selecting a Deck in the Digital Cut Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514

Previewing a Digital Cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514

Recording a Digital Cut to Tape (Remote Mode) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515

Crash Recording Through Remote Deck Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518

Recording a Digital Cut to Tape (Local Mode) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519

Chapter 19 Conforming and Transferring Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521

Compatibility Between Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521

Preparations for Conforming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522

Delivery Requirements for Final Masters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522

Offline Formats for HD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523

File Transfer for the Online Session. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523

System Compatibility for the Online Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524

Preparing Graphics for the Online Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525

Preparing Effects for the Online Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526

Preparing Titles for the Online Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526

Preparing Audio for the Online Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527

Conforming Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527

Step 1: Transfer Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528

Step 2: Open the Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530

Step 3: Measure the Video Signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531

Step 4: Recapture Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531

Step 5: Import and Lay in the Final Audio Mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532

Step 6: Batch Import Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532

Step 7: Re-create Title Media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533

Considerations when Re-creating Title Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534

Redefining a Font Replacement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534

Step 8: Refine Effects and Perform Color Correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535

Step 9: Render Effects as Needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536

Step 10: Create the Final Masters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537

Conforming Sequences with Color Correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537

Conforming Color Correction Sequences with

Symphony Meridien Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537

Conforming Color Correction Sequences with Media Composer or

Avid Xpress Pro Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539

Transferring Color Corrections with Color Correction Templates . . . . . . . . . . 539

Transferring Project and Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540

Transferring Audio Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 541

Transferring Sound Designer II Audio Files from Macintosh Systems . . . . . . 542

Working with Sound Designer II Audio Files on Macintosh Systems . . . . . . . 542

Transferring a Project Using Shared Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542

Transferring Project Files and Media Files Using Nonshared Storage . . . . . . 543

Devices and Methods for Transferring Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545

Nonshared Storage Issues for Cross-Platform Collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549

Transferring Media Files from Media Composer Version 7.2 or

Avid Xpress Version 2.1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550

Chapter 20 Working with the Avid Interplay Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 551

Using Remote Assets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552

Connecting to the Avid Interplay Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552

Connecting to and Mounting Workspaces on an

Avid Unity MediaNetwork System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553

Mounting Workspaces on an Avid Unity ISIS System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554

Configuring Interplay Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558

Opening the Interplay Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560

Managing Remote Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561

Understanding Reservations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562

Understanding Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563

Reviewing Remote Assets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564

Understanding Access Control for Avid Assets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564

Moving, Copying, and Deleting Avid Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565

Creating Folders and Shortcuts in the Interplay Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 566

Modifying the Appearance of the Interplay Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567

Understanding Column Display in the Interplay Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568

Modifying Column Display in the Interplay Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568

Renaming Clips in the Interplay Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570

Adding Comments in the Interplay Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570

Updating Writable Properties in the Property Merge Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . 570

Using Custom Layouts for the Interplay Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 572

Opening Multiple Tabs in the Interplay Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573

Setting the Interplay Window Display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574

Media Objects in the Interplay Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574

Editing with Remote Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575

Working with Avid Assets in the Interplay Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576

Checking Avid Assets Out of the Interplay Database. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577

Checking Avid Assets In to the Interplay Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578

Automatically Checking In Avid Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 580

Updating Remote Assets in Bins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581

Understanding In-Progress Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581

Editing with In-Progress Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582

Limitations When Working With In-Progress Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583

Finding Remote Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584

Overview of Finding Remote Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584

Performing Searches on Interplay Folders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584

Search Attributes for the Interplay Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 586

Keeping Search Results in the Interplay Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587

Capturing Media to Interplay Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587

Chapter 21 Using MultiRez and Dynamic Relink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589

Understanding MultiRez and Proxy Editing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590

Creating Multiple Resolutions of a Master Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591

Batch Capturing Multiple Resolutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591

Batch Importing Multiple Resolutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593

Understanding How Clips and Media Are Associated. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595

Single Clip, Multiple Resolutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596

Multiple Clips, Multiple Resolutions, and the Affinity Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597

Partial Clips, Multiple Resolutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599

MultiRez Tape Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600

Understanding Dynamic Relink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600

MultiRez Workflow Example. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602

Considerations When Working with Dynamic Relink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603

Using the Dynamic Relink Settings Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604

Enabling Dynamic Relink. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604

Applying Working Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605

Examples of Working Settings for Dynamic Relink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606

Applying Target Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607

Example of Target Settings for Dynamic Relink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608

Dynamically Relinking to the Target Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609

Dynamic Relink Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610

Relinking in Frame Chase Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613

Using the Relink Dialog Box in an Avid Interplay Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614

Displaying Whether Media Is Available for Dynamic Relinking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615

Using the MultiRez Button to Show Available Media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615

Using Clip Coloring to Show Available Resolutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 616

Examples of MultiRez Clip Coloring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617

MultiRez Button Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620

MultiRez Bin Headings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622

Understanding Options for Deleting MultiRez Clips and Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 624

Deleting MultiRez Clips and Media from a Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 626

Working with Partially Online Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 626

Consolidating and Transcoding a Portion of a Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627

Viewing a Source Clip in the Timeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628

Consolidating and Deleting Original Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629

Partially Restoring from an Archive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631

Using This Guide

This guide contains the task-oriented instructions and conceptual information you need to use the basic features of your Avid editing application. The Advanced Guide for your Avid editing application, available as a PDF document in the Online Library, is a companion to this guide. The Advanced Guide contains instructions and conceptual information for advanced features of your Avid editing application, as well as reference information. The contents of both guides are available in the Help.

This guide is intended for all users, from beginning to advanced.

Unless noted otherwise, the material in this document applies to the Windows® XP, Windows Vista document were captured on a Windows system, but the information applies to both Windows and Mac OS X systems. Where differences exist, both Windows and Mac OS X screen shots are shown.

The documentation describes the features and hardware of all models. Therefore, your

system might not contain certain features and hardware that are covered in the documentation.

, and Mac OS® X operating systems.The majority of screen shots in this

Symbols and Conventions

Avid documentation uses the following symbols and conventions:

Symbol or Convention Meaning or Action

A note provides important related information, reminders, recommendations, and strong suggestions.

A caution means that a specific action you take could cause harm to your computer or cause you to lose data.

A warning describes an action that could cause you physical harm. Follow the guidelines in this document or on the unit itself when handling electrical equipment.

Symbol or Convention Meaning or Action

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

order you select them. For example, File > Import means to open the File menu and then select the Import command.

This symbol indicates a single-step procedure. Multiple arrows in a list indicate that you perform one of the actions listed.

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

Bold font Bold font is primarily used in task instructions to identify user interface

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

Courier Bold font

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

If You Need Help

If you are having trouble using your Avid product:

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

2. Check the latest information that might have become available after the documentation was published:

- If the latest information for your Avid product is provided as printed release notes,

they ship with your application and are also available online.

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

items and keyboard sequences.

Courier Bold font identifies text that you type.

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

If the latest information for your Avid product is provided as a ReadMe file, it is supplied on your Avid installation CD or DVD as a PDF document (README_product.pdf) and is also available online.

You should always check online for the most up-to-date release notes or ReadMe because the online version is updated whenever new information becomes available. To view these online versions, select ReadMe from the Help menu, or visit

the Knowledge Base at

www.avid.com/readme.

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

4. Visit the online Knowledge Base at www.avid.com/onlinesupport. Online services are available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Search this online Knowledge Base to find answers, to view error messages, to access troubleshooting tips, to download updates, and to read or join online message-board discussions.

Accessing the Online Library

The Online Library for your Avid editing application contains all the product documentation in PDF format, including a Master Glossary of all specialized terminology used in the documentation for Avid products.

The Online Library for your Avid editing application is installed along with the application itself.

You will need Adobe® Reader® to view the PDF documentation online. You can download

the latest version from the Adobe web site.

To access the Online Library, do one of the following:

t From your Avid editing application, select Help > Online Library

t (Windows only) From the Windows desktop, select Start > All Programs > Avid > Avid

editing application > Online Library

Accessing the Online Library

t Browse to the Online Library folder, and then double-click the MainMenu file.

The Online Library folder is in the same location as the application itself, for example:

(Windows) C:\Program Files\Avid\Avid editing application\Online Library

(Macintosh) MacintoshHD/Applications/Avid editing application/Online Library

Accessing the Goodies Folder

Avid supplies a Goodies folder located on the editing application DVD. Access the Goodies folder by browsing the DVD. This folder contains programs and files you might find useful when trying to perform functions beyond the scope of your Avid editing application.

The information in the Goodies folder is provided solely for your reference and as suggestions for you to decide if any of these products fit into your process. Avid is not responsible for the manufacture, support, or sales of these products. Avid is also not responsible for any loss of data or time, or any other adverse results related to the use of these products. All risks of using such products or accessing such Web sites are entirely your own. The Web sites listed in the Goodies folder are not under the control of Avid, and Avid

is not responsible for their content, any changes or updates to them, or the collection of any personal data or information by the operators of such Web sites. All information and product availability is subject to change without notice.

How to Order Documentation

To order additional copies of this documentation from within the United States, call Avid Sales at 800-949-AVID (800-949-2843). If you are placing an order from outside the United States, contact your local Avid representative.

Avid Training Services

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

To learn about Avid's new online learning environment, Avid Learning Excellerator™ (ALEX), visit

http://learn.avid.com.

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

www.avid.com/training or call Avid Sales at 800-949-AVID

1 Editing Overview

The following topics provide an overview of the editing workflow:

• Editing Workflow

• Starting a Project

• Preparing to Edit

• Editing a Sequence

• Outputting a Sequence

Editing Workflow

Your editing workflow depends on a variety of factors. For example, you might be working on a standard-definition video project, a film project, or an HD project.

The following procedure lists the basic steps for editing a sequence and refers you to sections of the documentation for more information. The structure of this Basics Guide reflects the typical editing workflow.

1. Create or open a project.

For more information, see “Starting a Project” on page 41.

2. Set the appropriate Project settings and create a bin structure.

For more information, see “Working with the Project Window” on page 75.

3. Capture or import the media.

For more information, see “Preparing for Capture” on page 87, “Capturing Media” on

page 129, and “Importing Files” on page 151.

4. Organize your bins to suit your project’s needs.

For more information, see “Working with Bins” on page 163.

5. View your clips in advance and mark IN and OUT points, or create subclips based on selected portions of your master clips.

For more information, see “Viewing and Marking Footage” on page 213.

1 Editing Overview

6. Build your sequence in the Timeline.

For more information, see “Creating and Editing Sequences” on page 251 and “Using

the Timeline” on page 275.

7. Fine-tune your edits and effects by using functions of the various edit modes, such as Trim mode, Effect mode, and Color Correction mode.

For more information, see “Working in Trim Mode” on page 309, “Working with

Effects” on page 377, and “Color Correction” on page 463.

8. Add any titles you need.

For more information, see “Working with Titles” on page 431.

9. Adjust and mix multiple audio tracks and prepare for final output, using audio tools.

For more information, see “Working with Audio” on page 325.

10. Export the sequence or output a digital cut.

For more information, see “Exporting Frames, Clips, or Sequences” on page 481 or

“Generating Output” on page 491.

If you are working in an offline to online project, see “Conforming and Transferring

Projects” on page 521. For information about HD workflows, see “HDTV Workflows”

in the Help.

Starting a Project

Whenever you start to work on a new project, you follow these basic steps:

1. Turn on your equipment in a prescribed order and start your Avid editing application.

For more information, see “Turning on Your Equipment” on page 41.

2. Select or create a new project (the job that will result in one or more finished sequences).

For more information, see “Starting a Project” on page 41.

3. Select the Project settings from the Settings list.

For more information, see “Working with the Project Window” on page 75.

4. Create and organize bins.

For more information, see “Working with Bins” on page 163.

5. Back up your project on a regular basis.

For more information, see “Starting a Project” on page 41.

1. Turn on your system and start your Avid editing application.

2. Select or create a project.

Starting a Project

3. Select the Project settings.

5. Back up the project.

4. Create and organize bins.

1 Editing Overview

Preparing to Edit

When you capture and organize footage before editing, you follow these basic steps:

1. Batch capture, log and capture, or capture on-the-fly your source material into the Avid system.

For more information, see “Preparing for Capture” on page 87 and “Capturing Media”

on page 129.

2. Use bins to organize the project items.

For more information, see “Working with Bins” on page 163.

3. Manage media files by using the Media tool.

For more information, see “Managing Media Files” on page 185.

4. Use the bins to create storyboards.

For more information, see “Creating a Storyboard” on page 183.

1. Capture footage, creating master clips and media files.

2. Sort and organize clips in the bins.

Preparing to Edit

3. Manage media files for storage efficiency and backup security.

4. Previsualize with storyboards.

1 Editing Overview

Editing a Sequence

When you edit your video and audio, you follow these basic steps:

1. View your clips and mark IN and OUT points, or create subclips based on selected portions of your master clips.

For more information, see “Viewing and Marking Footage” on page 213.

2. Build your sequence in Source/Record mode, which provides nonlinear editing controls with Source and Record monitors, and in the Timeline. See

Sequences” on page 251.

3. Fine-tune your edits and effects by using the various edit modes, such as Segment, Trim, and Effect modes.

For more information, see “Using the Timeline” on page 275 and “Working in Trim

Mode” on page 309.

4. Adjust and mix multiple audio tracks and prepare for final playback or output by using the Audio tools.

For more information, see “Working with Audio” on page 325.

5. Return to editing if further adjustments are required.

“Creating and Editing

For basic information about working with effects, see the following topics:

- “Working with Effects” on page 377

- “Working with Titles” on page 431

- “Color Correction” on page 463

For complete information about working with effects, see the “Advanced Effects Guide” and “Conform and Finishing Guide” in the Help. This information is also contained in the Avid Advanced Effects Guide and the Avid Symphony Conform and Finishing Guide, which are available in PDF format in the Avid Symphony Online Library.

1. Screen, mark, and subcatalog footage.

Editing a Sequence

Source monitor

Record monitor

Timeline

2. Edit in Source/Record mode and the Timeline.

3. Fine-tune edits and effects.

4. Fine-tune audio pan, volume, and EQ.

5. Screen and continue editing as necessary.

1 Editing Overview

Outputting a Sequence

When your sequence is finished, you can output it in any of the following ways, depending on the requirements of your project:

• Export as a file or a series of files.

For more information, see “Exporting Frames, Clips, or Sequences” on page 481.

• Output a digital cut in one or more formats.

For more information, see “Generating Output” on page 491.

• Generate a cut list through Avid FilmScribe™.

For more information, see the Avid Film Scribe User’s Guide or the Film Scribe Help.

• Generate an EDL through Avid EDL Manager.

For more information, see the Avid EDL Manager User’s Guide or the EDL Manager Help.

Finished sequence

Outputting a Sequence

Export a file.

Generate a cut list.

Output to tape

Generate an EDL.

1 Editing Overview

2 Starting a Project

Your work begins when you turn on your system, start your Avid editing application, and open an existing project or create a new project. The following topics describe these and other procedures for starting your work, as well as several techniques to safeguard and restore your work if necessary:

• Turning on Your Equipment

• Working with the Desktop

• Starting Your Avid Editing Application (Windows)

• Starting Your Avid Editing Application (Macintosh)

• Working with Projects

• Quitting Your Avid Editing Application

• Turning Off Your Equipment After Quitting

• Avid Projects and Avid Users Folders

• Changing Project and User Names

• Backing Up Your Project Information

• Avid Attic Folder

• Retrieving Files from the Avid Attic Folder (Windows)

• Retrieving Files from the Avid Attic Folder (Macintosh)

• Using Toolsets

Turning on Your Equipment

Avid recommends that you turn on your equipment in the following order:

1. Storage devices

2. Peripheral devices (such as monitors and speakers)

3. Computer system

4. Avid input/output hardware device

Do not disconnect devices while running your Avid editing application. Before starting your

Avid editing application, make sure all your devices are connected first.

2 Starting a Project

Working with the Desktop

You can use some of the desktop navigation features of your operating system to speed your work in your Avid editing application, or customize for your convenience while editing. You can:

• Control how the Windows taskbar appears on the screen (Windows only).

• Use the Macintosh Dock as a quick way to launch your Avid editing application (Macintosh only).

• Use shortcut menus (also sometimes known as context menus) to quickly access editing commands.

• Use standard keyboard shortcuts to navigate and select options in dialog boxes and menus.

• Use the mouse scroll wheel for navigation and customize mouse button functions.

You also use the desktop for backups and transferring projects, as described in “Backing Up

Your Project Information” on page 67 and “Avid Projects and Avid Users Folders” on page

64.

For information on the Windows operating system, such as the desktop and icons, see your

Microsoft

documentation.

Using the Windows Taskbar (Windows Only)

By default, the Windows taskbar always appears on the bottom of your screen, on top of your application. You have two other choices:

• Keep the taskbar hidden behind your Avid editing application

• Set the taskbar to appear only when you drag the mouse pointer to it

If you keep the taskbar hidden while running your Avid editing application and you minimize an application such as Help, you do not see the minimized icon in the taskbar.

For more information about the taskbar, see the Windows Help.

The taskbar can also be dragged to the top, bottom, or either side of the monitor.

When working in your Avid editing application, you can minimize windows (such as the Project window and bins). The icons will appear in the application window, not in the taskbar.

To see the taskbar and minimized icons:

t Minimize your Avid editing application.

To change the taskbar settings:

1. Right-click an unused part of the taskbar, and select Properties.

The Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box opens.

2. Select the options you want:

t To keep the taskbar hidden, deselect “Keep the task bar on top of other windows”

and “Auto hide the task bar.”

t To set the taskbar to appear when you want, select “Keep the task bar on top of

other windows” and “Auto hide the task bar.”.

3. Click OK.

Using the Macintosh Dock (Macintosh Only)

You can place an application icon alias on the Dock for easy access to your Avid editing application. The Dock is hidden when your Avid editing application is active. For full information on using the Dock, see the Mac OS X documentation.

Working with the Desktop

To display the Dock:

t Move the mouse pointer to the edge of the screen where the Dock is hidden.

Using Shortcut Menus

Instead of using the standard menus to find the command you need, try using the shortcut menus. Shortcut menus show the most frequently used commands for a window or a screen object.

Most shortcut menus contain a What’s This? command. Select What’s This? to access Help for the window or the object.

To use a shortcut menu:

t Right-click (Windows) or Ctrl+Shift+click (Macintosh) a window or a screen object.

Using the Keyboard for Navigating in Dialog Boxes and Menus

You can use the following procedures to navigate in many dialog boxes and menus and to select and deselect options.

To move from tabbed page to tabbed page within a dialog box:

t Press Page Up or Page Down.

2 Starting a Project

To move from check box to check box or from option to option in a dialog box:

t Press Tab.

To select or deselect a check box or an option in a dialog box:

t Press Right Arrow, Left Arrow, or the space bar.

To move up or down in a menu, or increment a numeric value:

t Press Up Arrow or Down Arrow.

Using the Mouse Scroll Wheel for Navigating

You can use the mouse scroll wheel for navigation in your Avid editing application, as described in the following table. You can also set the speed of scrolling with the mouse wheel, and assign functions to three additional mouse buttons, as described in

Mouse Functions” on page 45.

To scroll through items in an window or function area with a vertical scroll bar (such as a bin):

t Press Ctrl (Windows) or Control (Macintosh) + scroll wheel.

To move the position bar one frame at a time in the Timeline:

“Customizing

t Press Ctrl (Windows) or Control (Macintosh) + scroll wheel.

To move the position bar 10 frames at a time in the Timeline:

t Press Ctrl (Windows) or Control (Macintosh) + Alt (Windows) or Option (Macintosh) +

scroll wheel.

To move the slider one unit at a time in a tool or window containing a slider (such as the Effect Editor):

t Press Ctrl (Windows) or Control (Macintosh) + scroll wheel.

To move the slider 10 units at a time in a tool or window containing a slider (such as the Effect Editor):

t Press Ctrl (Windows) or Control (Macintosh) + Alt (Windows) or Option (Macintosh) +

scroll wheel.

Customizing Mouse Functions

Your Avid editing application allows you to set the speed of scrolling with the mouse wheel, and lets you assign functions to three additional mouse buttons. For example, mouse button 3 can have a button function assigned to it. Mouse buttons pressed along with modifer keys can also have additional assigned functions.

When mapping mouse buttons, make certain that the modifier key that you are assigning to

the button and command doesn't already have an alternate function.

You cannot assign functions to the standard left and right mouse buttons.

To set the mouse scroll speed:

1. Double-click Mouse in the Settings list of the Project window.

The Mouse Settings dialog box opens.

Working with the Desktop

2. Select a speed from the Vertical Scroll Speed menu.

Normal is the default setting. Normal scrolls one item at a time. Moderate scrolls two items at a time, and Fast scrolls four items at a time.

To assign functions to additional mouse buttons:

1. Double-click Mouse in the Settings list of the Project window.

The Mouse Settings dialog box opens.

2. Select Tools > Command Palette.

The Command palette opens.

3. Select Button to Button Reassignment at the bottom of the Command palette.

4. Click the tab from which you want to select a user-selectable button.

5. Click the mouse, and drag the button from the Command palette to a button location on the Mouse Settings dialog box.

2 Starting a Project

Suggestions for Optimum Performance

Background tasks can interrupt time-critical operations, such as capturing, playing, or rendering. Make sure that background tasks are not running while you are working on the Avid editing system.

• “Turn Off File Sharing (Windows)” on page 46

• “Optimum Performance (Windows)” on page 46

• “Antivirus Applications” on page 48

Turn Off File Sharing (Windows)

Turning off File Sharing is required. If you do not do this, you might get Access Denied

errors after moving files.

To turn off Simple File Sharing (Windows XP):

1. Double-click My Computer.

2. Select Tools > Folder Options > View.

3. Scroll down to the bottom of the window and deselect “Use simple file sharing (Recommended)”.

To turn off File Sharing (Windows Vista):

1. Select Start > Control Panel.

2. Double-click Network and Sharing Center.

3. Click File Sharing and select Turn off File Sharing.

4. Click Apply.

Optimum Performance (Windows)

The following list contains suggestions for ensuring optimum performance when working with the Avid editing system:

The steps below might vary depending on if you have Windows XP or Windows Vista.

• Disable CPU throttling (Windows XP):

- Select Start > Control Panel.

- Double-click Power Options.

- Select Power schemes > Always On.

Working with the Desktop

• Disable CPU throttling (Windows Vista):

- Select Start > Control Panel.

- Double-click Power Options.

- Select High Performance.

• Do not enable the Windows Display setting “Show window contents while dragging.” This setting hinders redraw performance on the Avid editing system.:

Do the following (Windows XP):

- Select Start > Control Panel.

- Double-click Display.

- Click the Appearance tab.

- Click the Effects button.

- Deselect “Show window contents while dragging.”

Do the following (Windows Vista)

- Select Start > Control Panel.

- Click Personalization > Window Color and Appearance.

- Click Effects.

- Deselect “Show window contents.”

• Do not leave the Console window open when you are editing. The Avid editing system performance slows considerably when the Console window is open.

• Do not leave a Windows Explorer window open. Windows Explorer tries to update file information.

• Do not leave an e-mail application open if it is set to do periodic checks for mail.

• Do not run any application that periodically “wakes up” and performs an action such as virus scanners.

• Disable screen savers.

• Do not keep media on the same partition where the application is installed. Avid recommends external media drives.

• Always use small fonts with the display driver to avoid missing characters in the application dialog boxes.

• After moving a drive from one system to another, you must restart your system. Windows does not recognize the drive until you restart the system.

2 Starting a Project

• Ensure you do not accidentally delete locked items from your desktop:

(Windows XP)

- Right-click the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop.

- Select Properties.

- Click the Global tab.

- Select “Display delete confirmation dialog.”

-Click OK.

(Windows Vista)

- Right-click the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop.

- Select Properties.

- Click the General tab and select Display delete confirmation dialog.

-Click Apply.

• When you are advancing by single frames through the Timeline, deselect Clip > Render On-the-Fly to enable faster response time.

• Do not name files with special characters (/ \ : ? ” < > | *), because Windows does not recognize special characters in file names. Bin names are limited to 27 characters (not including the four characters reserved for the file name extension).

• Do not schedule automatic backups at times when your Avid editing system might be in use.

• Do not run any application that includes prescheduled or automatically scheduled activities, such as a calendar program.

• Do not leave other applications running. Some applications, such as Microsoft Office, run background processes.

• Do not allow the Find Fast background process (find.exe) to run. The process tries to update its cache of file and folder locations. Check your Startup folder, and delete the file if it is there. To locate the find.exe, select Start

Antivirus Applications

Antivirus programs containing autoscanning features can interfere with the operation of the Avid editing application. For example, some antivirus programs can be configured to run in the background and scan all files for viruses whenever they are opened, copied, or moved. Since virus scanning is a processor-and disk-intensive activity, it can interfere with capturing and playing real-time effects in the Avid editing application.

Avid recommends you do not scan all files or schedule any background tasks such as virus scanning when you are using your Avid editing application.

> Search > find.exe.

Starting Your Avid Editing Application (Windows)

File deletion protection utilities also consume system resources and could interfere with the proper operation of the Avid editing application. These utilities automatically back up any files that are deleted, even temporary files created and deleted by the Avid editing application. This consumes a large amount of disk space.

Starting Your Avid Editing Application (Windows)

Your Avid editing application is located by default in the following folder:

drive:\Program Files\Avid\Avid editing application

The installation process adds a desktop icon and a pointer to your Avid editing application in the Start menu. For most users, these provide the easiest way to start the application.

Your Avid editing application does not start properly if the application file is moved from the Avid editing application folder.

If you install your Avid editing application on a laptop computer, a dialog box might open

with a message about incompatible power management schemes. Avid recommends you use the “Always On” power scheme when working with Avid editing applications. Other power schemes might affect performance of editing functions (for example, capture and digital cuts). For information on changing power schemes, see the Windows documentation.

To start your Avid editing application, do one of the following:

t Click the Start button, and select All Programs > Avid > Avid editing application.

t Double-click the Avid editing application desktop icon.

After the application starts, the Select Project dialog box opens. For more information on the Select Project dialog box, see

“Working with Projects” on page 50.

Starting Your Avid Editing Application (Macintosh)

Your Avid editing application is in the following location:

Macintosh HD/Applications/Avid Media Composer

For most users, the desktop or Dock is a more convenient location for starting the application. The installation process places a shortcut alias icon for your Avid editing application on the desktop.

For more information on making an alias and using the Dock, see your Macintosh

documentation.

2 Starting a Project

Your Avid editing application does not start properly if the application file is moved from the Avid editing application folder. You can drag it onto the Dock, and an alias is placed on the Dock.

When you start the application, you might see a message box indicating there is no input or

output signal. Check to ensure that your Avid input/output hardware is connected to the system with the cables secured and that it is turned on.

To start your Avid editing application, do one of the following:

t Double-click the alias icon for your Avid editing application on the desktop.

t Double-click the alias icon for your Avid editing application on the Dock.

t Select Go > Applications, and then double-click the Avid editing application folder. In

this folder, double-click the Avid editing application file.

You might see a license agreement. After the application starts, the Select Project dialog box opens. For more information on the Select Project dialog box, see

Projects” on page 50.

Working with Projects

This topic describes basic methods for working with projects.You can:

• Create a new project and save it to your choice of folder locations on your system.

“Working with

Some of the available folder locations use your operating system’s security features to limit access to the project.

• Use the Select Project dialog box to find, open, or delete a project.

• Instruct your Avid editing application to automatically open your last project when you start the application.

• Close an open project and return to the Select Project dialog box.

You should also back up your project information regularly to a separate storage device, as described in

For information on the files and folders that your Avid editing application creates as part of a project, see

“Backing Up Your Project Information” on page 67.

“Avid Projects and Avid Users Folders” on page 64.

Select Project Dialog Box

After you start your Avid editing application, the Select Project dialog box opens. The Select Project dialog box lets you find and open a project, create a new project, or establish user profiles. You can also choose to have your last project open automatically, as described in

“Opening a Project Automatically” on page 61.

User name

Folder name

User profile list

Project list

Working with Projects

Browse button

Folder buttons

New Project button

The following table describes the elements of the Select Project dialog box:

Element Description

User Displays the login name of the user currently logged into the system. To change

to a different user, you need to log out and log in as that user. For more information, see the documentation for your operating system.

Folder Displays the path of the current folder. This path determines which projects

appear in the project list and where a new project is created.

You cannot type into the User or Folder text boxes.

Browse button Click to navigate to a different folder. The projects in this folder appear in the

project list. See “Browsing for a Project” on page 59.

User Profile Displays the name associated with the current settings. By default your Avid

editing application uses the login name. Click the list button to change profiles or create a new one. For more information, see “Using User Profiles” in the Help.

2 Starting a Project

Element Description

Project list Displays a list of the Avid projects in the currently selected folder. Double-click a

Folder buttons Select a button to set the path for the project folder:

project to open it.

• Click Private to display any projects in the folder for the user logged into the system. Private projects use the security provided by your system’s user login. By default, this path is

(Windows)

name\Documents\Avid Projects

(Macintosh)

Projects

• Click Shared to display any projects in the folder for all users logged into the system. By default, this path is:

(Windows)

Avid Projects

(Macintosh)

application/Shared Avid Projects

• Click External to display the projects in a folder other than the Private or Shared folder. Set the path for the External folder by using the Browse button.

drive:\Documents and Settings\Windows login

Macintosh HD/Users/Mac login name/Documents/Avid

drive:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Shared

Macintosh HD/Users/Shared/Avid editing

New Project button

Click this button to open the New Project dialog box and create a new project.

Creating a New Project

Some Avid editing configurations allow you to select raster sizes for specific HD projects. For more information, see

To create a new project:

1. Start your Avid editing application.

The Select Project dialog box opens.

2. In the Select Project dialog box, select the folder in which you want to create the project: Private, Shared, or External.

For more information, see “Select Project Dialog Box” on page 51.

3. Click New Project.

The New Project dialog box opens.

4. Type the name of your new project in the text box.

“Raster Types” on page 55 and “Raster Sizes” on page 57.

Working with Projects

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

/ \ : * ? “ < > | or leading spaces, trailing spaces, or trailing periods, when naming projects, bins, and users. Bin and project names are limited to 27 characters, not including the period and 3-character extension that the system automatically adds to a file name.

(Macintosh only) You can set the Use Windows compatible File Names option in your Avid editing application’s General Settings dialog box to prevent the application from accepting these restricted characters in a bin, project, or user name. If you are using your Avid editing application as a standalone editor (and don’t plan to move your bins or projects to another platform), you have the option of extending bin and project names to 31 characters using the Allow filenames to exceed 27 characters option in the General Settings dialog box.

5. Click the Format menu and select a project type. For film projects, make a selection based on the source footage or the type of film-to-tape transfer with which you are working.

6. Select the following additional options:

t For 23.976p, 24p, 25p, 720p, and 1080p film projects, click the Film button and

select a format for film gauge tracking from the Default Film Type menu.

t For 24p PAL projects, select an audio transfer rate.

For information on audio transfer rates, see “Audio Transfer Options for 24p PAL Projects” in the Help.

t For 25i PAL, 30i NTSC, 720p, and 1080i Matchback projects only, select

Matchback, then click the Film button and select a format for film gauge tracking from the Default Film Type menu.

The Matchback item appears only if your Avid editing application includes the Matchback option. For more information about matchback, see “About the Matchback Option” in the Help.

t For HD projects on qualified systems, click the Raster Type menu and select an HD

format.

The Raster Type menu appears only if you create a new HD project on a supported system. For more information, see

page 57.

7. Click OK.

Your Avid editing application creates the new project files and folder, and then returns to the Select Project dialog box. The project name is highlighted in the Projects list.

8. Double-click the project name in the Projects list to open the project.

The Project window, the Composer window, and the Timeline open with the User settings loaded. The title bar of the Project window contains the project name and the user profile selected in the Select Project dialog box.

“Raster Types” on page 55 and “Raster Sizes” on

2 Starting a Project

Project name User name

9. (Option) If your project uses a film project type, set film preferences immediately after you create the project.

For more information, see “Setting Film Preferences” on page 59.

Close button

Project Types

The following table lists the format options available. Depending on the model of your Avid editing application, your format options might not include all items listed here. Some models allow you to select a specific raster size for HD projects (see

55 and “Raster Sizes” on page 57).

Project Type Source Footage Transfer

23.976p NTSC For film-originated or video-originated footage that has been shot at 23.976 fps or film-originated footage transferred on digital videotape (such as Digital Betacam™)

24p NTSC For film-originated or other 24-fps footage transferred to NTSC videotape

24p PAL For film-originated or other 24-fps footage transferred to PAL videotape at 25 fps

25i PAL For PAL video-originated footage (25 fps)

25p PAL For 25-fps film footage transferred to PAL videotape

30i NTSC For NTSC video-originated or other 30-fps footage transferred to NTSC videotape

720p/23.976 For film-originated material transferred to videotape.

“Raster Types” on page

Working with Projects

Project Type Source Footage Transfer (Continued)

720p/25 For video-originated material that can be captured, edited and output for HD

broadcast. It can also be captured in DVCProHD format.

720p/50 For HDV broadcast (European broadcast).

720p/59.94 For video-originated material. Can be directly captured, edited, and output for HD

broadcast.

1080p/23.976 For film-originated footage transferred to videotape.

1080p/24 For film-originated footage transferred to videotape. True 24-fps editing.

1080p/25 For film-originated footage transferred to videotape.

1080p/29.97 For film-originated footage transferred to videotape.

1080i/50 For video-originated material. Can be directly captured, edited, and output for HD

broadcast.

1080i/59.94 For video-originated material. Can be directly captured, edited, and output for HD

broadcast.

Some HD project types based on HDV requirements and available in earlier versions of Avid

editing applications have been replaced by standard HD projects that allow you to specify the raster size used for editing and playback. For more information, see

page 55.

Raster Types

Avid editing applications earlier than Avid Media Composer v3.0 or Avid NewsCutter v7.0 allowed you to create projects based on some device-specific HD including 1080i 59.94 HDV and 1080i 50 HDV. While you can open existing projects using these formats, new HD projects on systems with supported configurations allow you to specify the raster type used for playback and editing. This allows the Avid editing application to support HD compression formats that use anamorphically-scaled, nonstandard HD raster sizes. These formats include HDV, DVCProHD, and XDCAM™ HD.

Using the Raster Types option allows you to improve the playback of your HD sequences without having to transcode the video to an Avid DNxHD resolution.

Supported system configurations include the following:

•Media Composer v3.0 or later

• NewsCutter v7.0 or later

“Raster Types” on

compression formats,

2 Starting a Project

Media Composer and NewsCutter systems connected to an Avid Adrenaline device do not

support all raster sizes available in other input/output configurations.

When you select an HD project format in the New Project dialog box, a Raster Type menu appears allowing you to select from the following formats (the options available depend on the selected project type):

•Standard

•HDV

• DVCPro HD

• XDCAM HD

This allows you to play back your sequence in the native raster size for certain HD devices. When you output your final HD sequence, the Avid editing application resizes the sequence to the Standard raster size. The format you select to work in also determines which HD compression is used by your Avid editing application:

• Standard uses DNxHD 145

•HDV uses DNxHD-TR

•DVCPro HD uses DVCPro HD

• XDCAM HD uses DNxHD-TR

You can open an existing HD project (for example, a 1080i 50 HDV project) created either with an earlier version of an Avid editing application or with a version that does not support Raster Type selection. You can also create a new project using Raster Type selection that has the same raster size used in an existing project. Use the following guidelines when switching between existing and new project types.

Existing Project Type New Project Type/Raster Type

1080i 50 1080i 50 / Standard

1080i 50 HDV 1080i 50 / HDV

1080p 23.976 1080p 23.976 / Standard

720p 29.97 HDV 720p 29.97 / HDV

If you open a new HD project on an Avid editing application that does not support all Raster Type options, the application switches the project to the Standard raster. In this case, you do not receive the performance benefit of using the native raster size. When you move to an environment where other rasters are supported, you can manually switch your project to a specific raster. For example:

• If you create a DVCPro HD project on an Avid editing system with an Avid Nitris DX or an Avid Mojo DX, and then open it on an Avid Symphony system with Avid Nitris input/output hardware, the application switches the project to the Standard raster. When you save the project, it saves with the Standard raster.

Raster Sizes

The following tables list the raster sizes for each compression format and project type. You should select a format depending on your workflow and playback mode. (For information on video quality playback modes, see

Full-Raster Sizes for Full Quality Playback

Project type Standard DVCProHD XDCAM HD HDV

720p 23.976 1280x720 960 x720 NA 1280 x720

Working with Projects

“Video Quality Options for Playback” on page 235.)

720p 25 1280x720 960 x720 NA 1280 x720

720p 29.97 1280x720 NA NA 1280 x720

720p 50 1280x720 960 x720 NA 1280 x720

720p 59.94 1280x720 960 x720 NA 1280 x720

1080p 23.976 1920x1080 NA NA NA

1080p 24 1920x1080 NA NA NA

1080p 25 1920x1080 NA NA NA

1080p 29.97 1920x1080 NA NA NA

1080i 50 1920x1080 1440 x1080 1440 x1080 1440 x1080

1080i 59.94 1920x1080 1280x1080 1440 x1080 1440 x1080

2 Starting a Project

Half-Raster Sizes for Draft Quality Playback

Project type Standard DVCProHD XDCAM HD HDV

720p 23.976 640x360 480x360 NA 640x360

720p 25 640x360 480x360 NA 640x360

720p 29.97 640x360 NA NA 640x360

720p 50 640x360 480x360 NA 640x360

720p 59.94 640x360 480x360 NA 640x360

1080p 23.976 960x540 NA NA NA

1080p 24 960x540 NA NA NA

1080p 25 960x540 NA NA NA

1080p 29.97 960x540 NA NA NA

1080i 50 960x540 720x540 720x540 720x540

1080i 59.94 960x540 640x540 720x540 720x540

Quarter-Raster sizes for Best Performance Playback

Project type Standard DVCProHD XDCAM HD HDV

720p 23.976 320x180 240x180 NA 320x180

720p 25 320x180 240x180 NA 320x180

720p 29.97 320x180 NA NA 320x180

720p 50 320x180 240x180 NA 320x180

720p 59.94 320x180 240x180 NA 320x180

1080p 23.976 480x270 NA NA NA

1080p 24 480x270 NA NA NA

1080p 25 480x270 NA NA NA

1080p 29.97 480x270 NA NA NA

Quarter-Raster sizes for Best Performance Playback (Continued)

Project type Standard DVCProHD XDCAM HD HDV

1080i 50 480x270 360x270 360x270 360x270

1080i 59.94 480x270 320x270 360x270 360x270

Setting Film Preferences

Set film preferences in the Film and 24P Settings dialog box immediately after you create a project to provide the system with important information about the type of film and audio transfer you used for your project.

For information on setting the play rate for Timeline play and setting the format and display of ink numbers, see “Film and 24P Settings” in the Help.

For information about the settings for capturing in a film project, see “Setting Transfer Rates for Film Projects” in the Help.

Opening an Existing Project

Working with Projects

To open an existing project:

1. In the Select Project dialog box, select the folder in which the project is located: Private, Shared, or External.

For more information, see “Select Project Dialog Box” on page 51.

2. Do one of the following:

t Select a project in the Select Project dialog box, and then click OK.

t Double-click a project name in the Projects list.

Browsing for a Project

To browse for a project in a location other than the default Shared and Private folders:

1. Start your Avid editing application.

The Select Project dialog box opens.

2 Starting a Project

2. Click the Browse button.

The Browse for Folder (Windows) or Project Directory (Macintosh) dialog box opens.

Browse button

3. Navigate to the folder that contains the project you want.

4. Click OK (Windows) or Choose (Macintosh).

Working with Projects

5. Select a project in the Projects list.

6. Click OK.

The next time you open the Select Project dialog box, the path you selected will be displayed when you click the External button.

Opening a Project Automatically

If you have already created a project, when you enter your Avid editing application you can bypass the Select Project dialog box and have your last project open automatically.

To open a project automatically:

1. Click the Settings tab in the Project window.

The Settings list appears.

2. Double-click any Interface setting.

The Interface Settings dialog box opens.

2 Starting a Project

3. Click the General tab, select “Automatically Launch Last Project at Startup,” and then click OK.

For more information, see “Interface Settings” in the Help.

The next time you start your Avid editing application, it opens your last project.

To select another project:

1. Deselect “Automatically Launch Last Project at Startup,” and then click OK.

2. Quit your Avid editing application and restart it.

The Select Project dialog box opens.

3. Select a project and click OK.

The Project window, the Composer window, and the Timeline open with the User settings loaded.

Closing a Project

When you close the current project, you return to the Select Project dialog box.

To close the current project, do one of the following:

t With the Project window active, select File > Close Project.

t Click the Close button in the Project window.

Deleting a Project

You can delete a project from within your Avid editing application.

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

Captured media related to a deleted project is not deleted with the project folder. For more

information on deleting media files, see

Media Files with the Media Tool” on page 196.

To delete a project:

1. Start your Avid editing application.

The Select Project dialog box opens.

2. Click the project you want to delete.

3. Press the Delete key.

4. If you see a message asking if you want to delete the selected project and associated bins, click OK

The deleted project no longer appears in the Select Project dialog box.

“Deleting Bin Items” on page 175 and “Deleting

Quitting Your Avid Editing Application

When you end a work session on your Avid editing application, you must first quit the application, and then turn off your equipment. For more information on turning off your equipment, see

There are two ways to quit your Avid editing application. You can quit directly to the desktop, or you can close the open project and then quit from the Select Project dialog box.

If you are working in an Avid Unity™ environment, your Avid editing application writes a

media database file (.mdb) to the workspace in which you were working when you quit. Before quitting your application, make sure that the workspace has approximately 50 storage space available. Ask your Avid Unity administrator to increase the space if you need more storage.

To quit your Avid editing application and leave the application immediately:

t (Macintosh) Select Avid Media Composer > Quit Avid Media Composer.

t (Windows) Select File > Exit.

The project closes and your Avid editing application quits, returning to the desktop.

“Turning Off Your Equipment After Quitting” on page 64.

MB of

To quit your Avid editing application and view the Select Project dialog box:

1. Click the Close button at the far right (Windows) or at the far left (Macintosh) of the Project window’s title bar.

The Select Project dialog box opens.

2. Click Quit.

A message box opens.

3. Do one of the following:

t Click Leave to quit your Avid editing application.

t Click Cancel to return to the Select Project dialog box and select another project.

To view remaining storage on your media drives:

1. Click the Info tab in the Project window, and then click Hardware.

The Hardware tool opens.

2. Click the appropriate drive tab.

For more information, see “Using the Hardware Tool” in the Help.

2 Starting a Project

Turning Off Your Equipment After Quitting

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.

Quit your Avid editing application before turning off your equipment. For more information, see

To turn off your equipment:

1. Turn off the system by doing the following:

For a Windows system:

a. Click the Start button, and select Shut Down.

The Shut Down Windows dialog box opens.

b. Click the menu, and select Shut down.

c. Click OK.

For a Macintosh system:

t Select Apple menu > Shut Down.

2. Turn off the Avid Nitris device.

3. Turn off peripheral devices (such as monitors and speakers).

4. Turn off external storage devices.

Never remove media drives from your Avid system when it is turned on. Shut down the computer, and then remove the drives.

5. Turn off all other hardware.

“Quitting Your Avid Editing Application” on page 63.

Avid Projects and Avid Users Folders

When you create a new project or user profile, your Avid editing application creates files and folders in the Avid Projects and the Avid Users folders. You manage Avid projects, user profiles, and settings by:

• Moving, copying, or deleting these files and folders.

• Changing project or user names, as described in “Changing Project and User Names” on

page 66.

For more information about moving projects, see “Conforming and Transferring Projects” in the Help. For information about using and transferring site settings, see “Using Site Settings” in the Help.

Locations of Avid Projects and Avid Users Folders

Two Avid Projects folders are installed by default:

Avid Projects and Avid Users Folders

• Private Projects (Windows) —

name\Documents\Avid Projects

• Shared Projects (Windows) —

Users\Shared Documents\Shared Avid Projects

• Private Projects (Macintosh) —

name/Documents/Avid Projects

• Shared Projects (Macintosh) —

application/Shared Avid Projects

drive:\Documents and Settings\Windows login

drive:\Documents and Settings\All

Macintosh HD/Users/Mac login

Macintosh HD/Users/Shared/Avid editing

For an explanation of the difference between private projects and shared projects, see “Select

Project Dialog Box” on page 51.

The Avid Users folder is located in the application folder:

•(Windows XP)

Documents\Avid editing application\Avid Users

• (Windows Vista)

application\Avid Users

• (Macintosh)

(Windows only) The location of the Avid Users folder depends on the installation path for

your Avid editing application.

drive:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Shared

drive:\Users\Public\Public Documents\Avid editing

Macintosh HD/Users/Shared/Avid Media Composer/Avid Users

Files and Folders Created For Projects

When you create a new project, your Avid editing application creates a folder for the project and three files that are stored within the project folder:

• A project file (.avp)

• A project settings file (.avs)

• A bin file (.avb)

The project folder and the three files all use the project name you provide. The project folder is stored in the Avid Projects folder.

Your settings are initially set to the default values. As you work, the files maintain current settings. As you create additional bins for the project (see

“Creating a New Bin” on page

78), additional bin (.avb) files are added to the project folder.

2 Starting a Project

Files and Folders Created For User Profiles

When you create a new user profile, your Avid editing application creates a folder for the user and two files that are stored within the user folder:

• A user profile file (.ave)

• A user settings file (.avs)

The user folder and the two files all use the user profile name you provide. The new folder is stored in the Avid Users folder.

Changing Project and User Names

You cannot change project or user names from within your Avid editing application. You must change the names from your desktop before starting your application. For information about the location of the Avid Projects and Avid Users folders, see

Users Folders” on page 64.

“Avid Projects and Avid

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

To change a project name or user name:

1. Navigate to the Avid Projects or Avid Users folder, and then double-click the folder to open it.

2. Click the name of the folder you want to change.

The name is highlighted for text entry.

3. Type the new name of the folder.

4. Double-click the folder with the new name to open it.

The folder contains profile, settings, and project files with the old name.

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

Do not change the name of the file MCState.avs in the Avid Users folder.

6. Close the windows, and restart your Avid editing application.

The new project name or user name appears in the Select Project dialog box.

Backing Up Your Project Information

Although your Avid editing application automatically saves your bins, projects, and settings, you should back up these items frequently to avoid losing any of your work if your hard drive fails. Because the storage requirements are minimal, you can back up these files to a variety of storage devices, such

•USB (thumb) drive

• CD-ROM or DVD-ROM

• Network storage device (such as a file server)

• Mass-storage device

To back up the larger media files created when you capture footage, use a high-capacity

storage device. For information on backing up media files, see

on page 211.

Saving Your Project Information on a Drive or on Removable Media

To save your work on a drive or on removable media:

1. Mount the drive or insert the storage media (USB drive, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM) as appropriate.

as:

“Backing Up Media Files”

2. (Windows only) From the Windows desktop, double-click the My Computer icon.

3. Double-click the icon for the destination storage drive or storage media to open it. Double-click any additional folders to target the appropriate storage location.

4. Navigate to the folder that contains the project folder or the user folder you want to save.

For information about the location of these folders, see “Avid Projects and Avid Users

Folders” on page 64.

5. Drag a project folder or a user folder to the targeted storage location.

6. When the system finishes copying the files, unmount the drive or eject the media and store it where appropriate.

Restoring from a Backup

To restore a project or user information from a backup storage device:

1. Mount the drive or insert the removable media that contains the backup copies you want to restore.

2. From the desktop, double-click the icons for the drive or storage media and for the internal hard drive (Windows) or for the Macintosh HD (Macintosh).

2 Starting a Project

3. Drag the copies from the storage device to the appropriate folder on the internal hard drive (Windows) or

For information about these folders, see “Avid Projects and Avid Users Folders” on page

64.

When you start your Avid editing application, the restored project and user profile appear in the Select Project dialog box.

If you are restoring an individual bin or bins, you must relink them to the project from within

the Project window. For more information, see

Avid Attic Folder

The Avid Attic folder contains backup files of each bin in a project. You retrieve files from the Avid 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 corrupted

For information on retrieving files from the Avid Attic folder, see “Retrieving Files from the

Avid Attic Folder (Windows)” on page 69 and “Retrieving Files from the Avid Attic Folder (Macintosh)” on page 71.

Macintosh HD/Users/Shared

“Opening and Closing Bins” on page 79.

(Macintosh).

For information on setting automatic save features, see “Saving Bins Automatically” in the Help.

(Macintosh only) If you deselected the “Allow filenames to exceed 27 characters” option in

the General Settings dialog box, you cannot retrieve a backup file with a file name larger than the 27-character limit. You must rename the file before retrieving it.

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

When you view a bin folder in Details view (Windows) or List view (Macintosh), you can also identify the most recent backup file based on the timestamp of creation displayed in the Modified column (Windows) or Date Modified column (Macintosh).

The oldest backup file is overwritten only if the second-oldest backup file is more than

hours old.

Retrieving Files from the Avid Attic Folder (Windows)

To retrieve a file from the Avid Attic folder:

1. Minimize your Avid editing application.

For information on minimizing, see the Windows documentation.

2. From the desktop, double-click the Avid Attic folder, located in:

(Windows XP)

Documents\Avid editing application

(Windows Vista)

application

The Avid Attic folder opens and displays a folder for each project.

3. Double-click a project folder, and then double-click the Bins folder.

The Bins folder opens and displays a folder for each bin in the project.

4. Double-click the folder for the bin you want to retrieve.

5. If the bin folder is not already in the Details view, select View > Details.

The bin folder displays the backup bin files and their creation dates. A backup bin file has the same name as the bin, with a number appended. For example, a bin named Source Clips might have backup bin files named Source Clips.1 and Source Clips.2.

drive:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Shared

drive:/Users/Public/Public Documents/Avid editing

2 Starting a Project

6. Select the backup bin file or files you want to retrieve.

7. Ctrl+drag the selected backup bin files to the desktop.

This makes a copy of the files, leaving the original files in the Avid Attic folder.

To copy backup files to a new bin:

1. Click the taskbar item for your Avid editing application to restore it.

If the taskbar is hidden, see “Using the Windows Taskbar (Windows Only)” on page 42.

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

3. Select File > Open Bin.

4. From the Files of Type list, select All Files (*.*).

5. Navigate to the desktop, select one of the backup bin files you copied, and click Open.

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

Your Avid editing 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.

6. Create a new bin.

For example, if you are retrieving clips from a backup bin called Source Clips.2, you can call the new bin Source Clips New.

Retrieving Files from the Avid Attic Folder (Macintosh)

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

8. Repeat steps 3 through 7 for any other backup bin files you copied to the desktop.

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

10. Drag the backup bin files on the desktop to the Recycle Bin.

Retrieving Files from the Avid Attic Folder (Macintosh)

To retrieve a file from the Avid Attic folder:

1. Minimize your Avid editing application.

For information on minimizing, see the Macintosh documentation.

2. From the desktop, double-click the

application/Avid Attic

The Avid Attic folder opens and displays a folder for each project.

3. Double-click a project folder, and then double-click the Bins folder.

The Bins folder opens and displays a folder for each bin in the project.

4. Double-click the folder for the bin you want to retrieve.

folder.

Macintosh HD/Users/Shared/Avid editing

2 Starting a Project

5. Select View > as List, if the bin folder is not already in the List view.

6. Command+click the files you want to retrieve.

7. Option+drag the selected backup bin files to the desktop.

This makes a copy of the files, leaving the original files in the Avid Attic folder.

To copy backup files to a new bin:

1. Click the icon for your Avid editing application on the Dock to activate the application.

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

3. Select File > Open Bin.

4. Navigate to the desktop, select one of the backup bin files you copied, and click Open.

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

Your Avid editing application does not allow a bin and 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.

5. Create a new bin.

For example, if you are retrieving clips from a backup bin called Source Clips.2, you can call the new bin Source Clips New.

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

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

8. Repeat steps 3 through 7 for any other backup bin files you copied to the desktop.

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

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

Using Toolsets

You can use predesigned work environments (toolsets) that are suited to your most common tasks:

• Color Correction

• Source/Record Editing

• Effects Editing

• Audio Editing

•Capture

The Toolset menu provides you with several environments, or special-purpose workspaces, that include the following:

• Tools appropriate for the task

• A screen optimized for the task, screen resolution, and number of monitors

• A neatly organized workspace without overlapping windows

You can change the toolset workspace, restore it to the default arrangement, or link it to other settings. For example, you might want each toolset to appear with a different color scheme.

Using Toolsets

• Opening Toolsets

• Customizing Toolsets

• Linking Toolsets to Other Settings

Opening Toolsets

To open a toolset:

t Select Toolset > toolset.

Customizing Toolsets

To customize the toolset workspace:

1. For the toolset you want to customize, select Toolset > toolset.

2. Open other tools with which you want to work, and position them where you want them.

3. Select Toolset > Save Current.

The next time you select the customized toolset, it appears with your changes.

2 Starting a Project

To remove your customizations:

t Select Toolset > Restore Current to Default.

Linking Toolsets to Other Settings

You can link the current toolset to custom User settings, or link several toolsets to named settings but leave the other toolsets linked to a default, unnamed setting.

To link a toolset to another setting:

1. For the toolset you want to link, select Toolset > toolset.

2. Select Toolset > Link Current to.

The Link Toolset dialog box opens.

3. Click the Links to Current Toolset menu, and select Link to Named Settings.

4. Type the name of the other setting to which you want to link the toolset.

For more information about creating and naming custom settings, see “Working with Settings” in the Help.

You can link toolsets only to User settings.

5. Click OK.

The active toolset is linked to the custom setting you specified.

To link a toolset to an unnamed setting:

1. For the toolset you want to link, select Toolset > toolset.

2. Select Toolset > Link Current to.

The Link Toolset dialog box opens.

3. Click the Links to Current Toolset menu, and select Link to Unnamed Settings.

4. Click OK.

The active toolset is linked to all the unnamed settings in the Settings list.

3 Working with the Project Window

The Project window provides controls for structuring and viewing important information about your current project. You can also modify User, Project, and Site settings from the Project window and display a list of effects. The following topics provide basic information about the Project window:

• Project Window

• Controlling Project Window Display

• Using the Bins Tab in the Project Window

• Using the Settings Tab in the Project Window

• Using the Format Tab in the Project Window

For advanced information about the Project window, see “Working with the Project Window: Advanced” in the Help or in the Advanced Guide for your Avid editing application.

(Windows only) This chapter refers to the installation default directory path for the various

Avid folders. If you chose a different directory path during the installation, you must substitute that path when using this chapter.

Project Window

The Project window is a central location for important information and tools that you need as you work on your project.

3 Working with the Project Window

Project window information is organized in tabs.The following table describes the display tabs available in the Project window:

Tab Function

Bins Allows you to create and open bins. For more information, see “Using the Bins Tab

in the Project Window” on page 77.

Settings Allows you to view and modify settings. For more information, see “Using the

Settings Tab in the Project Window” on page 83.

Effects Allows you to access a library of effects. For more information, see “Working with

Effects” on page 377.

Format Allows you to view information about the format of the project. For more

information, see “Using the Format Tab in the Project Window” on page 85.

Usage Allows you to view information about the work session usage. For more

information, see “Displaying Usage Information” in the Help.

Info Allows you to view information about system memory usage and system hardware

configuration. For more information, see “The Info Display” in the Help.

Controlling Project Window Display

The Project window opens automatically when you select a project in the Select Project dialog box. For more information, see Project window’s tab to change the display of information in the window.

The Project window remains open the entire time you are working in a project; however, it might become hidden behind open bins or tools. If this occurs, you can redisplay the Project window.

When you close the Project window, you return to the Select Project dialog box.

To change the information display in the Project window:

t Click one of the tabs.

To locate and redisplay the Project window, do one of the following:

t Select Tools > Project.

t Click in an unobstructed area of the Project window to bring it forward.

“Working with Projects” on page 50. You can use the

Using the Bins Tab in the Project Window

To close the Project window, do one of the following:

t With the Project window active, select File > Close Project.

t Click the Close button in the Project window.

The Select Project dialog box opens.

Using the Bins Tab in the Project Window

When you create a project, your Avid editing application automatically creates a bin with the name of the new project, which is displayed in the Bins tab of the Project window. You can rename this bin and create additional bins as you work in your project.

The word bin is a movie industry term that refers to a container that holds pieces of film. In your Avid editing application, bins contain master clips that are created when you capture source material. 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

Viewing a List of Bins

project.

Bins tab

Fast Menu button

Bin icon

You can view a list of bins in the Project window. From the Bins list, you can examine the number, names, sizes, and location of the bins. Bins from other projects appear in the Project window in italic.

For more information on working with bins, see “Working with Bins” on page 163.

To view a list of bins associated with the project:

t Click the Bins tab in the Project window.

Bins list

3 Working with the Project Window

Creating a New Bin

To create a new bin from the Project window:

1. Do one of the following:

t Select File > New Bin.

t Click the New Bin button in the Project window.

A new (empty) bin opens and 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 in the Project window with a default name highlighted and a number appended to it. A corresponding file is placed in the project folder in the Avid Projects folder, and a backup copy is placed in the Avid Attic folder. For more information, see

on page 64 and “Avid Attic Folder” on page 68.

2. Type the name of the new bin, and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh).

For more information, see “Renaming a Bin” on page 78.

To place a bin in a folder:

t Drag the bin to the folder icon.

“Avid Projects and Avid Users Folders”

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 and is numbered incrementally.

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

(Macintosh only) You can set the Use Windows compatible File Names option in your Avid

editing application’s General Settings dialog box to prevent the application from accepting these restricted characters in a bin, project, or user name. If you are using your Avid editing application as a standalone editing application (and don’t plan to move your bins or projects to another platform), you have the option of extending bin and project names to 31 characters.

To change the name of a bin:

1. Click the bin name in the Bins list in the Project window.

2. Type a new name.

Project name

Default bin name

Opening and Closing Bins

You can open a single bin from the Project window, or open multiple bins at once. You can also open a bin from another project.

Using the Bins Tab in the Project Window

If you have the SuperBin enabled, see “Opening Bins in the SuperBin” on page 180.

Never open a bin that is stored on a removable disk or equivalent device; otherwise, your Avid editing application cannot save your work. Always copy the bin to a project folder on the system drive before you open it.

To open a bin directly:

1. Click the Bins tab in the Project window.

2. Double-click the Bin icon next to the bin name.

The bin opens in a separate window. The Bin icon appears dimmed in the Bins list, indicating the bin is open.

To open several bins at once from the Project window:

1. Click a Bin icon in the Bins list.

2. Ctrl+click (Windows) or Shift+click (Macintosh) each additional bin you want to open.

3. Select File > Open Selected Bins.

3 Working with the Project Window

To open a bin from another project:

1. Select File > Open Bin.

The Open a Bin dialog box opens.

2. Find and select the bin you want.

Bins have the file name extension .avb.

3. Click Open.

The bin appears in the Bins list in the Project window in a folder called Other Bins. The name Other Bins appears in italic. You can rename this folder. This option is 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. Deleting bins from the Other Bins folder does not remove the bins from the drive; only the pointers to the bins are removed.

To close a bin, do one of the following:

t Click the Close button.

t Select File > Close Bin.

Displaying Folders of Bins in the Bins List

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. For more information, see “Folders and Bins” in the Help.

Fast Menu button

Arrow

Folders

Trash icon

To create a folder in a project:

1. Click the Fast menu button, and select New Folder.

A new untitled folder appears.

2. Click the untitled folder name in the Bins list and rename it.

To show or hide the folder’s contents in the Bins list in the Project window:

t Click the arrow next to a folder icon.

To view a list of only the folder contents and not the folders:

t Click the Fast Menu button, and select Flat View.

The Trash icon and its contents disappear until Flat View is deselected.

Deleting a Bin or Folder

You can delete bins and folders along with their contents from the Bins list in the Project window. Deleted bins and folders are moved to a Trash folder in the Bins list until you empty the Trash. If you need a deleted bin or folder, you can retrieve it from the Trash. For more information, see

“Viewing Contents in the Trash” on page 82.

Using the Bins Tab in the Project Window

Only bins and folders appear in the Trash. If you select a clip, subclip, or effect directly in a bin and press the Delete key, the item is permanently deleted and does not appear in the Trash.

To delete a bin or folder from the Project window:

t Select the bin or the folder you want to delete in the Bins list of the Project window, and

do one of the following:

- If the SuperBin is not enabled, press the Delete key.

- If the SuperBin is enabled, right-click (Windows) or Ctrl+Shift+click (Macintosh) the bin name and select Delete Selected Bins from the shortcut menu. For more information on using the Superbin feature, see “Opening Bins in the SuperBin” on

page 180.

A Trash icon appears in the Bins list in the Project window. The Trash contains the deleted item. The deleted item is stored in the Trash until you empty it.

The Trash is not visible in the Project window until you delete your first item.

3 Working with the Project Window

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. Click the arrow next to the Trash icon in the Bins list.

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 of 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. Click the Fast Menu button, and select Empty Trash.

A message box opens.

2. Click Empty Trash to delete the bins or folders from the Trash and from your internal hard drive.

Saving Bins Manually

You can manually save a specific bin, selected bins, or all bins. You might want to do this immediately after performing an important edit.

To save a specific bin:

1. Click the bin to activate it.

2. Select File > Save Bin.

Using the Settings Tab in the Project Window

To save selected bins:

1. In the Bins tab of the Project window, click a Bin icon to select it, and then Ctrl+click any additional bins.

2. Select File > Save All.

The system saves all the selected bins.

The Save Bin command appears dimmed if there were no changes since the last time the

active bin was saved.

To save all the bins:

1. Click the Bins tab in the Project window to activate it.

2. Select File > Save All.

The system saves all the bins for the project.

Using the Settings Tab in the Project Window

From the Settings tab in the Project window, you can view, select, open, and alter various User, Project, and Site settings. Each setting includes Help that you can access directly from the setting dialog box.

Before working in your project, review the basic system settings described in the following table:

Setting Description

Bin Sets parameters for auto-save interval and other bin procedures. For more

information, see “Bin Settings” in the Help.

Film and 24p Sets parameters for edit play rate, ink number format, and transfer rate. For more

information, see “Film and 24P Settings” in the Help.

General Defines default values such as the default starting timecode. For more information,

see “General Settings” in the Help.

Interface Defines the appearance and function of the applications windows and buttons. For

more information, see “Interface Settings” in the Help.

Keyboard Defines how commands are mapped to the keyboard. For more information, see

“Keyboard Settings” in the Help.

3 Working with the Project Window

To view the Settings list:

t Click the Settings tab in the Project window.

Settings tab

Settings list

To open a setting:

t Double-click the setting in the Settings list.

To view Help for a setting:

Setting type

t Open a setting and press the F1 key (Windows) or the Help key (Macintosh).

Using the Format Tab in the Project Window

The Format tab in the Project window allows you to view basic project information, such as the video format (NTSC, for example). The displayed information lists the options you selected in the New Project dialog box when you created the project.

For some project formats, the Project Type list lets you change the format of the project to another format that shares the same frame rate. For example, if you are working in a 1080i/59.94 HD project, you can change the project format to 30i NTSC. For more information, see “Changing the Project Format” and “Raster Types” in the Help.

For 24p PAL projects, the Format tab shows the audio transfer rate you selected when you

created the project. The actual audio transfer rate might be different from the display if you used the Film and 24P Settings dialog box to change the audio transfer rate. For more information, see “Settings for Film and 24p Projects” in the Help.

To open the Format tab:

t Click the Format tab in the Project window.

3 Working with the Project Window

4 Preparing for Capture

Capturing is the process of creating digital media from video or audio input. Before you capture, you must prepare your Avid editing application and your capture hardware. The basic procedures you need to capture media are described in the following topics:

• Logging and Shot Logs

• Importing Shot Log Files

• Preparing the Hardware for Capture

• Selecting Settings for Capture

• Configuring Decks

• Setting Up the Capture Tool

• Preparing for Audio Input

• Preparing for Video Input

• Capture Preparations Check List

For advanced information about logging and capturing media, see “Capturing Media: Advanced” in the Help or in the Advanced Guide for your Avid editing application.

Logging and Shot Logs

Logging is the process of entering information about source material into bins at the beginning of the editing workflow. A shot log is a text file that lists information about a roll of film or a videotape, usually in chronological order.

You can get information into your bins either by importing a shot log file or by entering the information directly. Logging can be done automatically or manually, before capturing or at the same time as capturing.

When you import shot log files or log directly into a bin, you provide your Avid editing application with frame-accurate clip information (such as starting and ending timecodes). Your application uses this information to capture the source footage. The information forms the foundation for organizing, tracking, storing, retrieving, and generating lists of edit information throughout your project.

4 Preparing for Capture

You can import any shot log created or converted to meet Avid log specifications. You can also combine or merge events while importing a log so that fewer master tapes require capturing. The system imports any additional information logged with each clip. For more information, see “Understanding Avid Log Specifications” in the Help.

For film projects, most telecine and other film-to-tape transfer systems generate a log you can import directly to the bin, after you convert it to .ale format by using the Avid Log Exchange (ALE) utility. Even if the telecine facility supplies you with an .ale file, you should process it through the ALE utility, using the Clean function. For more information, see “Preparing Log Files for Import” in the Help.

You can also import an EDL to a bin for use in capturing. For more information, see the Avid

EDL Manager Help.

For information on how to import a shot log file, see “Importing Shot Log Files” on page 88.

For information about logging into a bin, see “Logging Directly into a Bin” in the Help.

For information about logging and capturing at the same time, see “Capturing and Logging

at the Same Time” on page 129.

Importing Shot Log Files

You can import a shot log file into a bin to make clip information such as start and end timecode available to your Avid editing application. For more information, see

and Shot Logs” on page 87.

To import shot log files into a bin:

1. If you have created Import settings for importing shot log files, select the Import setting you want to use from the Settings list.

For more information, see “Creating and Modifying Import Settings” on page 152.

2. Do one of the following to identify the bin in which you want to store the imported files:

t Open a bin from the Project window.

t Click anywhere in an open bin to select it.

t Create a new bin.

For more information, see “Opening and Closing Bins” on page 79 and “Creating a New

Bin” on page 78.

3. Select File > Import.

The Select Files to Import dialog box opens.

“Logging

Look in menu

Source file list

Files of type menu

Importing Shot Log Files

Enable menu

From menu

4 Preparing for Capture

4. (Option) If you want to select options for combining events on import, click the Options button to open the Import Settings dialog box. After selecting the appropriate options from the Shot Log tab, click OK to close the Import Settings dialog box and return to the Select Files to Import dialog box.

For information on Import settings, see “Import Settings” in the Help. You can also view this information by clicking the dialog box and pressing the F1 key (Windows) or the Help key (Macintosh).

5. Do one of the following:

t If you are importing an .ale file, click the Files of type menu and select Shot Log

(Windows), or click the Enable menu and select Shot Log Documents (Macintosh).

t If you are importing a text file or batch importing multiple file types, click the Files

of type menu and select All Files (Windows), or click the Enable menu and select Any Documents (Macintosh).

When batch importing multiple files and file types, you should establish global Import

settings in advance. See

6. Use the Look in menu (Windows) or the From menu (Macintosh) to locate the folder containing the source file.

“Creating and Modifying Import Settings” on page 152.

7. Select the source file from the list and click the Open button.

When the system finishes importing the file, the clips appear in the selected bin.

Preparing the Hardware for Capture

Your source material can originate from a videotape (or other recording media such as P2 memory cards), a digital audiotape (DAT), a compact disc (CD), an in-house router, a tuner, or straight off-the-air, with the proper hardware configuration.

For information on connecting your equipment, see “Using the Avid Input/Output Hardware” in the Help.

Preparing the Hardware for Capture

You should check the items described in the following table before capturing:

Item Description

Sync source Avid Nitris or Avid Nitris DX requires that the deck and the input/output

hardware be genlocked to the same timing source when capturing or outputting a digital cut using the Avid Nitris or Avid Nitris DX. For more information, see “Selecting the Sync Source for Capture” on page 92.

Audio-only input Sync is needed for audio-only input. For more information, see “Establishing

Sync for Audio-Only Input” on page 92.

Client monitor Before you begin capturing and editing, set up your NTSC or PAL Client

monitor by using a color-bar generator (or house pattern) and lock in those settings, if you have not done so already. See “Connecting Cameras, Decks, and Monitors” and “Playing Video to the Client Monitor” in the Help.

16:9 format You can edit with video in the 16:9 aspect ratio for display of wide-screen

images used in the high-definition television (HDTV) format. To view the footage on a Client monitor, you must have a 16:9-compatible Client monitor. For more information on the 16:9 format option, see “Using the 16:9 Display Format” in the Help.

Remote switch The deck control switch on the front of the source deck must be set to Remote

rather than Local to control the deck with the Capture tool.

DAT (digital audiotape)

Striped drives If you are capturing media at high resolution, you must use striped drives. See

When capturing from DAT, you might need to select an appropriate sync setting. For more information, see “Establishing Sync for Audio-Only Input”

on page 92.

“Storage Options and Drive Striping” in the Help and “Getting Information

About Striped Drives” on page 91.

Getting Information About Striped Drives

Avid maintains a set of tables containing information about striping drives, which is available through Avid online support.

For more information, see “Storage Options and Drive Striping” in the Help.

To get information about striped drives:

1. Go to www.avid.com/onlinesupport.

2. Search for “Drive Striping Tables.”

4 Preparing for Capture

Selecting the Sync Source for Capture

Avid Nitris or Avid Nitris DX requires that the deck and the Avid Nitris input/output hardware be genlocked to the same timing source when capturing using the Avid Nitris or Avid Nitris DX. You can use one of the following sources as sync, depending on your project format:

• Black burst or house sync through the reference input (REF) of the Nitris hardware

• Tri-level sync through the HD TRILEVEL SYNC input of the Nitris hardware

If the source you select is not correctly connected, or if the sync generator is set to an incorrect frame rate, the application might end the capture with an error message. Also, the start frame might be inaccurate when capturing using serial deck control and the resulting clip will be off by one frame.

For a list of sync options for each format, see “Sync Options for HD Formats” on page 493.

To select the sync source:

1. Select Tools > Video Output Tool.

2. Select the sync source from the Sync Lock menu: Reference or Tri-Level.

Tri-Level appears only if you are working in an HD project.

To check the sync source, do one or both of the following:

1. Check the lights on the front of the Avid Nitris.

If the Avid Nitris is locked to a valid sync signal, the Lock light and either the HD REF or SD REF light will be constantly on. For more information, see “Avid Nitris Front Panel” in the Help.

2. Check the Video Lock icon or the Ref Lock icon in the Capture tool.

For more information, see “Setting the Video and Audio Input in the Capture Tool” on

page 109.

Establishing Sync for Audio-Only Input

When you capture audio with video, the video input signal provides the timing reference for digitizing analog audio.The video input signal also provides the reference for the retiming of digital audio inputs when you apply sample rate conversion. This ensures that the audio and video remain in synchronization.

When you capture audio only, the audio timing reference is taken from the same source as the video output timing. You set the sync source for capture and output timing through the Video Output tool. For more information about connecting a reference signal, see

the Sync Source for Capture” on page 92.

“Selecting

Preparing the Hardware for Capture

If you are capturing audio only, and the material being captured must be resynchronized with video, you must make sure that the audio captured remains synchronized with the associated video. There are several cases to consider, depending on whether the input is analog or digital, and (in the case of digital input with some Avid input/output hardware) whether sample rate conversion is involved.

Analog Audio Input

If you are capturing audio-only from an analog source, sync is taken from the sync source, either black burst or tri-level, as selected in the Video Output tool. If no sync source is connected, sync is generated from internal timing.

With some Avid input/output hardware, you can view the selected sync source in the Hardware tab of the Audio Project settings dialog box, in the Sync Mode field. To be sure you see the correct sync source, view the Audio Project settings with the Capture tool active, or with channels armed for passthrough in the Audio tool.

If you need to synchronize audio with video clips captured separately, Avid recommends that you connect a sync source to both your Avid input/output hardware device and the audio deck. Otherwise you might experience drifting of the audio during editing.

Digital Audio Input

Digital audio inputs (ADAT, AES/EBU, S/PDIF, and SDI Embedded Audio) provide their own timing reference. If sample rate conversion is not available on your system or is disallowed (by selecting “Never” in the Input tab of the Audio Project settings), no other connections are required to achieve sync, so long as the source deck is genlocked.

When using the AES/EBU inputs, the lowest numbered channel that is enabled for input in either the Capture tool or the Audio tool is used as the timing reference. When sample rate conversion is not in use, it is important that all AES/EBU inputs that are used simultaneously be locked to the same timing reference.

If the digital media sample rate is different from the project sample rate, and if sample rate conversion is available on your system and is allowed (by selecting “When Needed” in the Input tab of the Audio Project settings), then sample rate conversion is running in your Avid input/output hardware. In this case, the output of the sample rate conversion uses a sync source under the same rules as analog capture, as described above.

If you need to synchronize audio with video clips captured separately, Avid recommends that you connect a sync source to both your Avid input/output hardware and the audio deck to prevent drifting of the audio during editing, even when capturing digitally. This will ensure synchronization even if sample rate conversion is required.

4 Preparing for Capture

If sample rate conversion is available on your system, the background color of the I (IN) button in the Audio Tool informs you of the status of each digital input. If the background color is yellow, the input is not connected (no valid clock was detected). If the background is blue, the input is valid and no sample rate conversion is in use. If the background is green, the input is valid but a sample rate converter is in use. (Pausing the mouse cursor over the I button pops up a reminder of how to interpret the color.)

For more information about sample rate conversion, see “Performing Audio Sample Rate

Conversion During Capture” on page 117 and “Audio Sample Rate Conversion” on page

372.

When using the AES/EBU inputs, if channels 1 and 2 do not require sample rate conversion, none of the other inputs will have sample rate conversion applied. However, if channels 1 and 2 are not in use, higher numbered channels can be converted to match the rate of the lowest numbered channel, if sample rate conversion is allowed by the Audio Project settings.

Selecting Settings for Capture

Several settings directly affect the capturing process. This section includes information on Media Creation settings.

For other capture-related settings, see the following topics in the Help:

• Capture Settings

• Capturing Across Timecode Breaks

• General Settings

• Settings for Film and 24p Projects

• Advanced Capture Settings

For information about locating and modifying settings, see “Using the Settings List” in the Help.

You can also view information about settings by clicking a window or dialog box and pressing the F1 key (Windows) or the Help key (Macintosh).

In the MXF Media Type tab or the OMF Media Type tab of the Capture Settings dialog box,

review the setting for “Maximum (default) capture time.” This setting limits the length of capture-on-the-fly and capture from an IN point without an OUT point. The default setting is 30 minutes. For more information, see “Capture Settings” in the Help.

Understanding Video Resolutions

Video resolution refers to the dimensions and the amount of compression in a video media file. The resolutions you can select depend on such factors as the model of your Avid editing application, your Avid input/output hardware, and your project format.

• For 25-fps and 30-fps projects, the Video Resolution list can show single-field resolutions, two-field interlaced resolutions, and DV.

• For 24p and 25p projects, the list shows progressive, full-frame resolutions. Select 1:1 for uncompressed media.

• For HD projects, the list can show 1:1, Avid DNxHD™ resolutions, and DVCPRO HD, depending on your video input. For more information, see

DV Device” on page 138.

• For HDV projects, no video resolutions are available for capture, because your Avid editing application automatically selects the correct resolution. For 720p HDV projects, Avid DNxHD and DVCPRO HD resolutions are listed for other media creation. For 1080 HDV projects, DNxHD-TR resolutions are available for other media creation.

Resolutions use either the OMF or the MXF media format. For more information, see “File Format Specifications” in the Help.

Selecting Settings for Capture

“Capturing Directly from a

DNxHD resolutions are available in 10-bit and 8-bit versions. 10-bit compressions are indicated by an X, such as DNxHD 220 X. DNxHD resolutions use the MXF media format.

25, and DV 50 resolutions are not available in HD projects.

JFIF, MPEG, DV

For more information about resolutions, see “Resolution Specifications” in the Help.

If you are using Avid Unity LANshare, make sure to specify a supported resolution. For information on supported resolutions, see the LANshare documentation.

Selecting Video Resolutions and Media Drives

The Media Creation dialog box allows you to set the video resolution and to select drives for capturing, creating titles and motion effects, importing, and performing audio and video mixdowns.

For more information on video resolutions, see “Understanding Video Resolutions” on page

95.

You can also select a video resolution and select drives directly in the Capture tool, the Save

Title dialog box, the Select Files to Import dialog box, the Audio Mixdown dialog box, and the Video Mixdown dialog box. The Media Creation settings automatically change to the resolution and drives you select.

4 Preparing for Capture

If you are using Avid Unity LANshare, make sure to specify a supported resolution. For information on supported resolutions, see the LANshare documentation.

To select a video resolution and media drives:

1. Do one of the following:

t Double-click Media Creation in the Settings list.

t Select Tools > Media Creation.

The Media Creation dialog box opens.

2. Click the Media Type tab, and select either OMF or MXF file format.

If your project uses an HD resolution, you cannot select OMF as a file format. MXF is selected by default.

The performance of Symphony when used with Avid Nitris input/output hardware is substantially better when using MXF 1:1 video instead of OMF 1:1. This improved performance occurs because the video format used in MXF 1:1 video files is the same as the native format used by the Nitris hardware, which allows the system to play more streams of video and render effects faster.

3. Click the Capture tab.

4. Click the Video Resolution menu, and select a video resolution.

The Video Resolution menu contains a list of the available resolutions.

Selecting Settings for Capture

5. Select a video drive and an audio drive. To select the same drive for both video and audio, click the Single/Dual Drives Mode button until only a single drive menu opens.

The drive that appears in boldface type has the most available space.

6. (Option) You can select drives and create a drive group. Click the Target Drive menu, and select Change Group. For more information on selecting a drive group, see

“Selecting the Target Drives” on page 113.

Because there is no audio associated with titles or motion effects, you can select only a video

drive in the Titles or the Motion Effects tab of the Media Creation dialog box.

7. To apply your drive selection to all the Media Creation tabs and the rest of the application, click Apply to All.

This sets your selected video and audio drives for all the Media Creation tabs. It also sets them for any place in the application where you select drives.

Your settings are not saved until you click OK.

8. Click OK to save your settings.

For more information about options, see “Media Creation Settings” in the Help. You can also view this information by clicking the dialog box and pressing the F1 key (Windows) or the Help key (Macintosh).

Setting Drive Filtering

Your Avid editing application lets you select any drive on your system to use for media storage. However, high-quality resolutions require striped drives. For more information, see

“Getting Information About Striped Drives” on page 91 and “Storage Options and Drive

Striping” in the Help.

Because media files are very large, you can remove from the list of available drives the drive where the operating system is located, the drive where your Avid editing application is located, and network drives that do not support the resolution you select. Filtering drives in this way provides you with a convenient way to store media only on drives with sufficient space.

Your Avid editing application does not prevent you from using non-Avid drives, but their reliability cannot be assured.

4 Preparing for Capture

If you are working in a network environment, see “Drive Filtering in Networked Workflows”

in the Help.

To set drive filtering in the Media Creation dialog box:

1. Do one of the following:

t Double-click Media Creation in the Settings list.

t Select Tools > Media Creation.

The Media Creation dialog box opens.

2. (Option) Click the Drive Filtering & Indexing tab.

Options for indexing local drives apply only in an Avid Interplay™ environment. For more

information, see the Avid Interplay Software Installation Guide.

3. Select a drive to filter out:

t Select Filter Network Drives Based on Resolution to remove those network drives

that cannot support the selected resolution, or cannot handle playback of the selected resolution.

t Select Filter Out System Drive to remove from the list the drive on which the

operating system resides.

t Select Filter Out Launch Drive to remove from the list the drive on which the Avid

editing system resides.

The drive or drives you filter out do not appear in the other Media Creation tabs as possible locations where you can store media. They also do not appear in other drive selection menus in the application except for the Import, Export, and Relink dialog boxes.

Your settings are not saved until you click OK.

4. Click OK to save your settings.

Configuring Decks

Deck Configuration settings allow you to establish deck control parameters for a single deck or for multiple decks. As with all settings, you can create multiple versions, allowing you to select among them for frequent changes in hardware configurations.

Deck Configuration settings and global deck control preferences appear as separate items (Deck Configuration and Deck Preferences) in the Settings list in the Project window.

Configuring Decks

For information on setting Deck Preferences, see “Deck Preferences Settings” in the Help. You can also view this information by clicking the dialog box and pressing the F1 key (Windows) or the Help key (Macintosh).

For information on configuring a deck, see the following topics:

• Configuring a Deck or Multiple Decks

• Deleting Deck Configuration Elements

Configuring a Deck or Multiple Decks

To configure a deck or multiple decks:

1. Verify that you have manually configured the appropriate hardware connections for the deck or decks.

For more information, see “Using the Avid Input/Output Hardware” in the Help.

2. Double-click Deck Configuration in the Settings list in the Project window.

4 Preparing for Capture

The Deck Configuration dialog box opens.

3. Click the Add Channel button to add a new channel box on the left side of the Deck Configuration dialog box and to automatically open a Channel dialog box.

100

Channel refers to the signal path for deck control, whether directly through a serial port,

through a V-LAN connection. A direct serial port or FireWire connection allows one deck for each channel, while a V-LAN VLXi system allows multiple decks.

4. Click the Channel Type menu, and select one of the following items, depending upon your system configuration:

t FireWire if you are controlling a DV camera or deck through a FireWire

connection.

t Direct if you are controlling a deck through an RS-422 connection to the serial port.

t VLAN VLX if you are controlling decks through a V-LAN/VLXi connection.

VLXi system connected to a serial port, or through a FireWire®

Pinnacle Systems Symphony - 3.0 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

Using This Guide

1 Editing Overview

Editing Workflow

Starting a Project

Preparing to Edit

Editing a Sequence

Outputting a Sequence

2 Starting a Project

Turning on Your Equipment

Working with the Desktop

Using the Windows Taskbar (Windows Only)

Using the Macintosh Dock (Macintosh Only)

Using Shortcut Menus

Using the Keyboard for Navigating in Dialog Boxes and Menus

Using the Mouse Scroll Wheel for Navigating

Customizing Mouse Functions

Suggestions for Optimum Performance

Turn Off File Sharing (Windows)

Optimum Performance (Windows)

Antivirus Applications

Starting Your Avid Editing Application (Windows)

Starting Your Avid Editing Application (Macintosh)

Working with Projects

Select Project Dialog Box

Creating a New Project

Project Types

Raster Types

Raster Sizes

Setting Film Preferences

Opening an Existing Project

Browsing for a Project

Opening a Project Automatically

Closing a Project

Deleting a Project

Quitting Your Avid Editing Application

Turning Off Your Equipment After Quitting

Avid Projects and Avid Users Folders

Changing Project and User Names

Backing Up Your Project Information

Saving Your Project Information on a Drive or on Removable Media

Restoring from a Backup

Avid Attic Folder

Retrieving Files from the Avid Attic Folder (Windows)

Retrieving Files from the Avid Attic Folder (Macintosh)

Using Toolsets

Opening Toolsets

Customizing Toolsets

Linking Toolsets to Other Settings

3 Working with the Project Window

Project Window

Controlling Project Window Display

Using the Bins Tab in the Project Window

Viewing a List of Bins

Creating a New Bin

Renaming a Bin

Opening and Closing Bins

Displaying Folders of Bins in the Bins List

Deleting a Bin or Folder

Viewing Contents in the Trash

Emptying the Trash in the Bins List

Saving Bins Manually

Using the Settings Tab in the Project Window

Using the Format Tab in the Project Window

4 Preparing for Capture

Logging and Shot Logs

Importing Shot Log Files

Preparing the Hardware for Capture

Getting Information About Striped Drives

Selecting the Sync Source for Capture

Establishing Sync for Audio-Only Input

Selecting Settings for Capture

Understanding Video Resolutions

Selecting Video Resolutions and Media Drives

Setting Drive Filtering

Configuring Decks