Pinnacle Systems Symphony - 5.5 Editing Guide

Avid® Symphony

Editing Guide

™

Legal Notices

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

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Avid products or portions thereof are protected by one or more of the following European Patents: 0506870; 0635188; 0674414; 0752174; 0811290; 0811292; 0811293; 0857293; 0976108; 0988756; 1050048; 1068734; 1111910; 1173850;

1629675. Other patents are pending.

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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.

Avid Symphony Editing Guide • 0130-07974-02• Decenber 2010

Using This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Symbols and Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

If You Need Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Accessing the Goodies Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Avid Training Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Chapter 1 Editing Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Editing Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Starting a Project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Preparing to Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Editing a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Outputting a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Chapter 2 Starting a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Turning on Your Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Working with the Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Starting Your Avid Editing Application (Windows). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Starting Your Avid Editing Application (Macintosh). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Working with Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Creating a New Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Setting Project-Naming Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Opening and Closing Projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

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

Quitting and Turning Off Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Changing Project and User Names. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Backing Up Your Project Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Avid Attic Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Using Toolsets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Chapter 3 Working with the Project Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Overview of the Project Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Controlling Project Window Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Using the Bins Tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Using the Settings Tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Using the Format Tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Working with Color Spaces in HD Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Changing the Project Color Space for an HD Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Using the Usage Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Using the Info Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Managing Bins and Memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Understanding User Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Managing User Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Customizing the Avid User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

User-Customized Workspaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Working with Bins and Projects in an Avid Shared Storage Environment . . . . . . . 106

Chapter 4 Using Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Using the Tools Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Using a Deck Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Deck Controller Window Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

The Command Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Using the Avid Calculator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Using The Console Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Using the Hardware Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

External Controllers as Editing Control Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Chapter 5 Logging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Using Avid Log Exchange to Prepare Log Files for Import . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Avid Log Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Creating an Avid Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Double-Checking Log Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Transferring Bins from MediaLog. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Logging Directly into a Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Understanding the Pulldown Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Setting the Pulldown Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Film-Related Log Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Chapter 6 Preparing for Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Logging and Shot Logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Importing Shot Log Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Preparing the Hardware for Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Selecting Settings for Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Configuring Decks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Understanding Timecode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Connecting a DV Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Setting Up the Capture Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Preparing to Capture Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Preparing to Capture Video. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Capture Preparations Check List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Chapter 7 Capturing Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Capturing and Logging at the Same Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Capturing Directly from a DV Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Frame Chase Capture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Batch Capturing from Logged Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Recapturing and Decomposing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Alternate Source Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Using Capture Function Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Handling Errors During the Capture Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Creating Subclips While Capturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Adding Locators On-the-Fly While Capturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Naming a New Tape from the Keyboard While Capturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Controlling Decks from the Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Ejecting Tapes with a Button or Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Using Dolby E Media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Delaying Audio During Capture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Live Capturing with External Timecode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Capturing to the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282

Capturing Video Without Pulldown into a 24p NTSC Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

Remote Play, Capture, and Punch-In. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

Relinking Clips by Key Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Modifying the Pulldown Phase After Capturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

DV and HDV Scene Extraction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

Using the Panasonic VariCam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

Chapter 8 Importing Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Preparing to Import Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300

Creating and Modifying Import Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300

Importing Media Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Importing with Multichannel Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

Importing Audio Files from a Music CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

Adjusting Gain Before Importing Audio Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

Sample Rate Conversion and Audio Import. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

Setting Sample Rate Conversion Options Before Importing Audio Files . . . . . . . . 312

Photoshop Graphics Import . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313

Digital Bars and Tone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

Importing Color Bars and Other Test Patterns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

Importing Editcam Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Setting XDCAM Import Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322

Importing XDCAM Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

Importing XDCAM EX Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324

Automatically Importing Proxy Media from an XDCAM Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

Importing Proxy Media from an XDCAM Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

Copying XDCAM Proxy Media to a Local Drive or a Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

Manually Importing XDCAM Media from the XDCAM Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

Importing Essence Marks as Locators in XDCAM Media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

Editing XDCAM Proxy Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

Batch Importing High-Resolution XDCAM Media from the XDCAM Disk. . . . . . . . 331

Editing and Finishing High-Resolution XDCAM Media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

Importing P2 Clips and Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

Importing Sequences from Pro Tools through Interplay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

Using the Drag-and-Drop Method to Import Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

Reimporting Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

Batch Import Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

Chapter 9 Working with Bins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

Object Icons in Bins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

Bin Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

Bin Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351

Working with Bin Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

Modifying Clip Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369

Working with Film Information in Bins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380

Working with the SuperBin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384

Creating a Storyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

Setting the Bin Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387

Sifting Clips and Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387

Working with Restricted Material. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392

Printing Bins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393

Chapter 10 File Based Media - AMA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

XDCAM and XDCAM EX Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

P2 Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401

Canon XF Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408

GFCAM Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

RED Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413

QuickTime Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425

MXF Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426

The Avid Media Access (AMA) Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429

Workflows for Editing with AMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445

Chapter 11 Managing Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455

Working with Media Files in an Avid Interplay Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456

Using Avid Editing Systems in an Avid LANshare Workgroup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457

Viewing Media with a 100Base-T Connection to Avid ISIS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458

Understanding Drive Mounting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458

Mounting and Unmounting Drives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459

Using the Media Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460

Consolidating Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465

Using the Consolidate Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467

Using the Transcode Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471

Loading the Media Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474

Refreshing Media Directories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475

Deleting Unreferenced Clips and Media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476

Backing Up Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477

Finding a Related Media File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478

Relinking Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479

Unlinking Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486

Archiving and Restoring Media Files to Videotape. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487

Sequence and Clip Information Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492

Chapter 12 Viewing and Marking Footage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497

Viewing Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498

Customizing the Composer Window and Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499

Using the Info Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505

Using the Timecode Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507

Playing Video to the Client Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508

Activating and Deactivating the Client Monitor Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508

Selecting the Video Display Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509

Adjusting the Play Delay Offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511

Using the Tool Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511

Playing Selected Clips in a Loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513

Loading and Clearing Footage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513

Controlling Playback. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516

Video Quality Options for Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525

Setting the Video Quality for Playback. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527

Marking and Subcataloging Footage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527

Using Locators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533

Finding Frames, Clips, and Bins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 548

Sequence and Clip Information Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 557

Chapter 13 PhraseFind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563

Selecting your Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563

Starting an Audio (Phonetic) Find . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564

The Results Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 566

Filtering Your Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567

Find Window Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568

Chapter 14 Creating and Editing Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571

Entering Source/Record Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 572

Creating a New Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 572

Making a First Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578

Creating an Instant Rough Cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 580

Undoing or Redoing Edits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581

Editing Additional Clips into the Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582

Mixing Frame Rates and Field Motion Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585

Mixing Frame Sizes and Aspect Ratios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594

Refreshing Sequences to Use Current Clip Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599

Lifting, Extracting, and Copying Material. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600

Adding Comments to Sequence Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604

Playing Back a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604

Understanding Sync Breaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607

Fixing Sync Breaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609

Understanding Sync Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610

Ganging Footage in Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613

Sync Point Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614

Autosyncing Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615

Understanding AutoSequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617

Adding Audio or Video to Original Videotape Using AutoSequence . . . . . . . . . . . . 618

Resyncing Subframe Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619

Resyncing Audio for a Selected Subclip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620

Working with Phantom Marks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 621

Creating Video and Audio Leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622

Using MetaSync to Synchronize Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623

Chapter 15 Script-Based Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625

Understanding Lined Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625

Script Integration — Lining in the Digital Realm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628

Understanding the Script Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 630

Working with the Script Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631

Working with Script Text. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 634

Working with Page or Scene Numbers and Searching in a Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637

Linking Clips to a Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 640

Interpolating Position for Script Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641

Working with Slates in the Script Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 642

Working with Takes in the Script Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645

Indicating Off-Screen Dialog in a Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647

Using Color Indicators in the Script Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 648

Script Marks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649

Finding Clips and Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657

Editing From the Script Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 658

Chapter 16 Using the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661

Customizing Timeline Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 662

Navigating in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 684

Working with Segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 689

Working with Multiple Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 702

In to Out Highlighting in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 716

Editing in Heads or Heads Tails View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 717

Performing a Quick Edit Using the Top and Tail Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 717

Working with Add Edits (Match Frames) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 718

Dupe Detection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 720

Editing with the Film Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 722

Tracking Color Frame Shifts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 723

Finding Black Holes and Flash Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 725

Printing the Timeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 726

Chapter 17 Working with Trim Edits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 727

Trimming with the Timeline Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 728

Understanding Trim Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 728

Setting Small Trim Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 731

Trim Settings Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 732

Timeline Trim States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 732

Selecting Trim Sides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 734

Overwrite Trimming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 738

Ripple Trimming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 739

Dual-Roller Trimming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 740

Refining Trims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 742

Reviewing Trim Edits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 743

Trimming On-the-Fly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 744

Using Dual-Image Playback During Trims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 745

Trimming During a Playback Loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 745

Creating Overlap Edits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 746

Extending an Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 747

Maintaining Sync While Trimming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 748

Slipping or Sliding Segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 750

Trimming in Two Directions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 753

Using the Transition Corner Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 754

Chapter 18 Working with Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 757

Overview of Audio Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 758

Working with Multichannel Audio Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 760

Displaying Track Formats in Bins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 762

The Track Control Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 763

Using Audio Scrub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 766

Audio Displays in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 770

Displaying Audio Formats in Bins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 778

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

Avid Mojo DX Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 778

Using the Audio Mixer Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 782

Rendering and Unrendering Order for Audio Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 788

Audio Gain Staging and an Audio Editing Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 789

Using Clip Gain and Pan Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 790

Using Automation Gain and Pan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 799

Using Live Mix Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 806

Fading and Dipping Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 811

Audio Sample Rate Conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 814

Changing the Audio Sample Rate for Sequences and Audio Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . 815

Mixing Down Audio Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 816

Splitting Stereo Tracks to Mono Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 818

Using the Audio EQ Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 819

Recording Voice-Over Narration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 832

Chapter 19 Using External Audio Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 841

Using an External Fader Controller or Mixer to Record Automation Gain . . . . . . . 844

Adjusting the Volume or Pan of Individual Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 845

Using the Command|8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 846

Using Mbox Family Audio Devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 851

Configuring USB-to-MIDI Software for External Controllers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 854

Avid Pro Tools|HD Native Hardware Configuration for Avid Editing Systems . . . . 857

Using a GPI Device with the Audio Punch-In Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 862

Chapter 20 Using Avid Artist Series Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 869

Installing EuControl Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 869

Configuring Avid Artist Series Controller Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 871

Configuring Ethernet Connections (Macintosh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 871

Configuring EuControl Settings (Macintosh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 873

Artist Series Controller Button Mappings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 875

Customizing Avid Artist Series Controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 876

Moving Through Footage with Artist Series Controllers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 880

Automation Gain and Pan on Artist Series Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 881

Recording Automation Gain and Pan with Artist Series Controllers. . . . . . . . . . . . 882

Using the Latch Mode Feature on Artist Series Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 884

Chapter 21 Using Audio Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 885

Real-Time AudioSuite Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 885

Avid AudioSuite Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 892

Core Avid Audio Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 904

Chapter 22 Exporting Frames, Clips, or Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 977

Understanding Export. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 978

Preparing to Export a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 979

Exporting With the Send To Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 980

Send To Templates Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 984

Creating a Custom Send To Template for Exporting to 

Third-Party Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 985

Exporting With the Export Command or the Drag-and-Drop Method . . . . . . . . . . . 987

Customizing Export Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 991

Guidelines for Exporting OMFI and AAF Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 992

Exporting Projects and Bins Using AFE Files (Windows Only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 996

Exporting QuickTime Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 997

Installing or Copying the Avid Codecs for QuickTime on Other Systems . . . . . . . . 999

Exporting from a Third-Party QuickTime or AVI Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1001

Exporting as Windows Media (Windows Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1001

Creating a Custom Profile for Windows Media Export (Windows Only) . . . . . . . . 1002

Exporting Media to XDCAM Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1003

Exporting to XDCAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1004

Exporting Your Clip or Sequence to a P2 Card. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1006

Exporting as Windows Media Using a VC1 Resolution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1007

Using Avid Interplay Media Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1008

Chapter 23 Generating Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1009

Preparing for Output: Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1009

Selecting the Device for Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1010

Selecting the Sync Source for Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1010

Calibrating for Video Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1014

Preparing for Converting HD Formats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1021

Preparing for Audio Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1024

Preparing Record Tapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1031

Enabling Assemble-Edit Recording. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1032

Using ExpertRender to Prepare Effects for a Digital Cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1033

Using the Digital Cut Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1034

Output Mode Resolution Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1043

Outputting DV 50 and DVCPRO HD Media Directly to a DV Device . . . . . . . . . . 1045

Selecting Output and Timecode Formats for 23.976p, 24p, and 25p Projects . . . 1045

Selecting Output Formats for 23.976p, 24p, and 25p Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1046

Output Format Reference for 23.976p, 24p, and 25p Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1047

Selecting the Timecode Format for Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1049

Outputting Drop-Frame and Non-Drop-Frame Timecode Simultaneously

for Downstream Encoding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1050

Indicating the Destination Timecode Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1051

Selecting the Video Pulldown Cadence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1051

Performing an Insert Edit with Pulldown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1052

Digital Cuts and Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1053

Changing the Default Pulldown Phase for Sequences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1054

Understanding DV Digital Cut Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1054

Delaying the Sequence for a Digital Cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1055

Using EDL Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1056

Using FilmScribe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1056

Understanding Matchback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1057

Preserving HD Closed Captioning and Ancillary Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1058

Chapter 24 Conforming and Transferring Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1071

Understanding Conforming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1071

Preparations for Conforming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1072

Conforming Workflow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1078

Conforming Sequences with Color Correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1087

Transferring Project and Media Files Between Avid Editing Systems . . . . . . . . . 1090

Chapter 25 Working with Avid Interplay from an Avid Editing System . . . . . . . . 1101

Working with Interplay and Remote Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1101

Administrator Settings for Avid Editing Clients. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1104

Using the Interplay Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1104

Connecting to the Avid Interplay Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1106

Editing with Remote Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1111

Managing Remote Assets with the Interplay Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1125

Finding Remote Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1145

Capturing Media to Interplay Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1148

Connecting to Avid Shared Storage and Mounting Workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1150

Dos and Don’ts for Editors Working with Avid Interplay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1157

Chapter 26 Using Interplay Transfer to Export Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1161

Installing the Interplay Transfer Client Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1162

Setting Transfer Settings in the Avid Editing Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1163

Transferring Avid Assets from an Avid Editing Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1171

Transferring Avid Assets to a Playback Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1172

Monitoring Transfers from Within the Avid Editing Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1174

Chapter 27 Using MultiRez and Dynamic Relink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1177

Understanding MultiRez and Proxy Editing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1177

Acquiring Media at Multiple Resolutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1179

Understanding How Clips are Associated with Multiple Resolutions . . . . . . . . . . 1183

Options for Clip and Media Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1185

Understanding Dynamic Relink. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1189

Workflow: Editing a Film or HD Project using MultiRez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1191

Considerations When Working with Dynamic Relink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1197

Using the Dynamic Relink Settings Dialog Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1197

Relinking in Frame Chase Editing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1205

Using the Relink Dialog Box in an Avid Interplay Environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1205

Displaying Whether Media Is Available for Dynamic Relinking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1207

MultiRez Button Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1212

MultiRez Bin Headings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1214

Understanding Options for Deleting MultiRez Clips and Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1216

Deleting MultiRez Clips and Media from a Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1218

Working with Partially Online Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1218

Quality Matching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1222

Chapter 28 MultiCamera Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1229

Understanding Grouping and Multigrouping Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1229

Creating Group Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1230

Creating Multigroup Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1231

MultiCamera Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1233

MultiCamera Editing Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1239

Selective Camera Cutting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1244

Chapter 29 Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1247

Understanding Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1248

Working with Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1251

Options for Moving User Settings Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1258

Summary of Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1259

AMA Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1262

Audio Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1263

Audio Project Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1263

Bin Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1271

Capture Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1272

Communication (Serial) Ports Tool Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1277

Composer Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1278

Controller Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1281

Correction Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1282

Deck Configuration Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1285

Deck Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1286

Deck Preferences Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1288

Dynamic Relink Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1289

Effect Editor Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1292

Email Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1294

Export Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1295

Film and 24P Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1319

General Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1321

Grid Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1322

Import Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1324

Interface Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1330

Interplay Folder, Interplay Server, and Interplay User Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1332

Keyboard Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1333

Marquee Title Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1334

Media Creation Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1334

Media Services Settings (Windows Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1337

Mouse Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1338

PortServer Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1338

Remote Play and Capture Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1339

Render Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1340

Safe Colors Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1342

Script Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1343

Timeline Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1344

Transfer Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1346

Trim Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1348

Video Display Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1349

Video Input Tool Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1350

Video Output Tool Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1351

Video Satellite Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1354

Workspace Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1355

Chapter 30 File Format Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1357

Specifications for Graphics (Image) Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1357

Specifications for Animation Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1363

Specifications for Importing OMFI Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1365

Working with BWF Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1366

Field Ordering in Graphic Imports and Exports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1370

Chapter 31 Resolutions and Storage Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1375

Compression and Avid Editing Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1375

Monitor Display Resolutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1376

Resolution Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1376

Mixing Resolutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1387

Resolution Groups and Image Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1388

Estimating Drive Space Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1388

Storage Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1389

Considerations for Managing Storage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1398

Chapter 32 Working with Stereoscopic Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1401

Understanding the Stereoscopic Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1401

Acquiring Stereoscopic Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1402

Setting Up Your System For Viewing Stereoscopic Material in 

Three Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1402

Displaying Stereoscopic Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1404

Considerations When Working with Stereoscopic Material. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1406

Chapter 33 Working in High-Resolution Projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1409

Delivery Methods for Film & Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1410

Film Workflows: Editing Footage from Film Reel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1411

Checklist: Editing Film Reel Footage in Media Composer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1413

Transferring Film to Tape. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1415

Film Workflows: Editing Footage from Digital Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1425

Checklist: Editing Digital Film Footage in Media Composer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1427

HD Workflow: Video-Based Television. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1430

Producing Graphics for Broadcast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1432

Creating a Film-Based Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1432

Editing with High-Resolution Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1436

Working with RED Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1443

Editing with Low-Res RED Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1444

Color Management with RED Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1446

Using HD Universal Mastering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1446

Working with HDV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1453

Understanding HDV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1454

HDV Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1455

Capturing and Importing HDV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1456

Playing Back HDV Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1457

Outputting HDV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1458

Raster Dimensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1463

Raster Sizes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1465

Chapter 34 Dual Link HD RGB Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1467

HD RGB Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1468

HD RGB Playback to High Resolution Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1468

HD RGB Digital Cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1468

Chapter 35 International Character Support (ICS) in 

Avid Editing Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1469

Choosing a Locale on an English Language Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1469

Using a Local Language Operating System 

(Windows Only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1470

Non-English Character Support (Macintosh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1470

Non-English Character Support (Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1473

Using Foreign Keyboard Mapping (Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1477

Considerations for International Character Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1478

Chapter 36 Using the MCS3 Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1483

Configuring MCS3 Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1483

Default MCS3 Button Mappings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1487

Moving Through Footage with the MCS3 Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1488

Using the MCS3 for Editing Footage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1489

Troubleshooting the MCS3 Controller. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1490

Chapter 37 Setting Up the Matrox MX02 Mini . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1491

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1493

Using This Guide

This guide contains the task-oriented instructions, conceptual information, and reference information you need to use the features of your Avid editing application. The contents of this guide is also 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 Mac OS 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.

Symbols and Conventions

Avid documentation uses the following symbols and conventions:

X operating systems. The majority of screen shots in this document were captured

and

Symbol or Convention Meaning or Action

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

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

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

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

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

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

Symbol or Convention Meaning or Action

(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 are shipped 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 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.

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.

Accessing the Goodies Folder

For information on courses/schedules, training centers, certifications, courseware, and books, please visit www.avid.com/support and follow the Training links, or call Avid Sales at 800-949-AVID (800-949-2843).

1 Editing Overview

The topics in this chapter 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 work 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.

1. Create or open a project.

For more information, see “Starting a Project” on page 37.

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

For more information, see “Working with the Project Window” on page 73.

3. Capture or import the media.

For more information, see “Preparing for Capture” on page 167, “Capturing Media” on

page 237, and “Importing Files” on page 299.

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

For more information, see “Working with Bins” on page 341.

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 497.

1 Editing Overview

6. Build your sequence in the Timeline.

For more information, see “Creating and Editing Sequences” on page 571 and “Using

the Timeline” on page 661.

7. Use Trim mode, Effect mode, and Color Correction mode to fine-tune your edits and effects.

For more information, see “Working with Trim Edits” on page 727 and the Effects and Color Correction Guide for your Avid editing application.

8. Add any titles you need.

For more information, see the “Creating Titles” and “Editing with Titles” chapters in the Effects and Color Correction Guide for your Avid editing application.

9. Use audio tools to adjust and mix multiple audio tracks and prepare for final output.

For more information, see “Working with Audio” on page 757.

10. Export the sequence or output a digital cut.

For more information, see “Exporting Frames, Clips, or Sequences” on page 977 or

“Generating Output” on page 1009.

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

Projects” on page 1071.

Starting a Project

Whenever you start to work on a new project, 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 37.

2. Select or create a new project

For more information, see “Starting a Project” on page 37.

3. Select the Project settings from the Settings list.

For more information, see “Working with the Project Window” on page 73.

4. Create and organize bins.

For more information, see “Working with Bins” on page 341.

5. Back up your project on a regular basis.

For more information, see “Starting a Project” on page 37.

1 Turn on your system and start your Avid editing application

Starting a Project

2 Select or create a project

4 Create and organize bins

3 Select the Project settings

5 Back up the project

1 Editing Overview

Preparing to Edit

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

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

For more information, see “Preparing for Capture” on page 167 and “Capturing Media”

on page 237.

2. Use bins to organize your project items.

For more information, see “Working with Bins” on page 341.

3. Use the Media tool to manage media files.

For more information, see “Managing Media Files” on page 455.

4. Use the bins to create storyboards.

For more information, see “Creating a Storyboard” on page 386.

1 Capture footage, creating master clips and media files

2 Sort and organize clips in bins

4 Previsualize with storyboards

3 Manage media files for storage efficiency and backup security

Editing a Sequence

When you edit your video and audio, 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 497.

2. Build your sequence in Source/Record mode in the Timeline. See “Creating and Editing

Sequences” on page 571.

3. Use Segment, Trim, and Effect modes to fine-tune your edits and effects.

For more information, see “Using the Timeline” on page 661, “Working with Trim

Edits” on page 727, and the Effects and Color Correction Guide for your Avid editing

application.

4. Use the Audio tool to adjust and mix multiple audio tracks and prepare for final playback or output.

For more information, see “Working with Audio” on page 757.

Editing a Sequence

1 Editing Overview

5. Continue to edit if further adjustments are required.

1 Screen, mark, and subcatalog footage 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, repeating any or all of steps 1 through 4 as necessary

Outputting a Sequence

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

• Export as a file or a series of files.

For more information, see “Exporting Frames, Clips, or Sequences” on page 977.

• Output a digital cut in one or more formats.

For more information, see “Generating Output” on page 1009.

• Generate a cut list through Avid FilmScribe™.

• Generate an EDL through Avid EDL Manager.

For more information on FilmScribe or EDL Manager, see the Avid Media Composer, NewsCutter, and Symphony Supporting Applications Guide, or the FilmScribe or EDL Manager Help.

Outputting a Sequence

Finished sequence. Output options include:

Export a file

Output to tape

1 Editing Overview

Generate a cut list

Generate an EDL

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 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 and Turning Off Equipment

• Avid Projects and Avid Users Folders

• Changing Project and User Names

• Backing Up Your Project Information

• Avid Attic Folder

• 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 you run your Avid editing application. Before you start your

Avid editing application, make sure you connect all your devices 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 or customize for your convenience while you edit. 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 65 and “Avid Projects and Avid Users Folders” on page 50.

For information on the Windows desktop and icons, see your Microsoft® documentation. For

information on the System Folder and the desktop and icons, see your Macintosh documentation.

Using the Windows Taskbar (Windows Only)

By default, the Windows taskbar always appears on the bottom of your screen, on top of your Avid editing 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 you run 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.

You can also drag the taskbar to the top, bottom, or either side of the monitor.

When you work in your Avid editing application, you can minimize windows (such as the Project window and bins). The icons appear in your Avid editing 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 Macintosh documentation.

To display the Dock:

t Move the mouse pointer to the edge of the screen where the Dock is hidden.

Working with the Desktop

Using Shortcut Menus

In addition to standard menus to find a command you need, you can use 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 to access Help for the window or the object.

To use a shortcut menu:

t Right-click a window or a screen object.

Using the Keyboard for Navigating in Dialog Boxes and Menus

To navigate in dialog boxes and menus and to select and deselect options:

Option Command

To move from tabbed page to tabbed page within a dialog box.

To move from check box to check box or from option to option in a dialog box.

Press Page Up or Page Down.

Press Tab.

2 Starting a Project

Option Command

To select or deselect a check box or an option in a dialog box.

To move up or down in a menu, or increment a numeric value.

Press Right Arrow, Left Arrow, or the space bar.

Press Up Arrow or Down Arrow.

Using the Mouse Scroll Wheel for Navigating

You can use the mouse scroll wheel to navigate in your Avid editing application, as described in the following table. You can also set the speed to scroll with the mouse wheel, and assign functions to three additional mouse buttons, as described in “Customizing Mouse

Functions” on page 40.

Option Command

To scroll through items in a window or function area with a vertical scroll bar (such as a bin).

To move the position bar one frame at a time in the Timeline.

To move the position bar 10 frames at a time in the Timeline.

Press Ctrl (Windows) or Control (Macintosh) + scroll wheel.

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).

To move the slider 10 units at a time in a tool or window containing a slider (such as the Effect Editor).

Customizing Mouse Functions

Your Avid editing application lets you set the speed of scrolling with the mouse wheel, and lets you assign functions to three additional mouse buttons.

When you map mouse buttons, make sure that the modifier key that you assign to the button

and command does not already have an alternate function.

You cannot assign functions to the standard left and right mouse buttons.

Press Ctrl (Windows) or Control (Macintosh) + scroll wheel.

Press Ctrl (Windows) or Control (Macintosh) + Alt (Windows) or Option (Macintosh) + scroll wheel.

Working with the Desktop

To set the mouse scroll speed:

1. In the Project window, click the Settings tab, and then double-click Mouse.

The Mouse Settings dialog box opens.

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. In the Project window, click the Settings tab, and then double-click Mouse.

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.

Optimum Performance (Windows XP)

Background tasks can interrupt time-critical operations, such as capturing, playing, or rendering. Make sure that background tasks are not running while you work on your Avid editing system.

2 Starting a Project

The following list contains suggestions for ensuring optimum performance when working with your Avid editing application on a Windows XP system:

• It is required to turn off File Sharing. If you do not do this, you might receive Access Denied errors after you move files.

In My Computer > Select Tools > Folder Options > View, deselect Use simple file sharing (Recommended).

• Disable CPU throttling.

In Control Panel > Power Options > Power schemes, select Always On.

• Do not enable the Windows Display setting “Show window contents while dragging.” This setting hinders redraw performance on the Avid editing system.

In Control Panel > Display > Appearance tab > Effects, deselect Show window contents while dragging.

• Enable setting to adjust for best performance.

In Control Panel > System > Advanced > Performance Settings, select Adjust for best performance.

• Disable Hibernation in the Power options.

In Control Panel > Power Options > Hibernate, deselect Enable hibernation.

• Set automatic updates to Notify you but don’t automatically download.

In System > Automatic Updates, select “Notify me but don’t automatically download them or install them.”

• Turn off the firewall for Avid Interplay.

In Control Panel > Windows Firewall > General, select Off.

• Do not leave the Console window open when you edit. The Avid editing system performance slows considerably when the Console window is open.

• Do not leave a Windows Explorer window open. Windows Explorer attempts 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.

• Disable screen savers.

• Do not keep media on the same partition where you install your Avid editing application. Avid recommends external media drives.

• Always use small fonts with the display driver to avoid missing characters in the dialog boxes in your Avid editing application.

• After you move a drive from one system to another, restart your system. Windows does not recognize the drive until you restart.

Working with the Desktop

• Ensure you do not accidentally delete locked items from your desktop.

Right-click the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop and then, in Properties > Global tab, select Display delete confirmation dialog.

• When you advance by single frames through the Timeline, deselect Render On-the Fly to enable faster response time.

In your Avid editing application, deselect Clip > Render On-the-Fly.

• Do not name files with special characters (/ \ : ? ” < > | *). 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 > Search > find.exe.

Optimum Performance (Windows Vista and Windows 7)

The following list contains suggestions for ensuring optimum performance when working with your Avid editing application on a Windows Vista or Windows 7 system:

• It is required to turn off File Sharing. If you do not do this, you might receive Access Denied errors after you move files.

In Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center > File Sharing, select Turn off File Sharing.

• Disable CPU throttling.

In Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Power Options, select High Performance.

• Do not enable the Windows Display setting “Show window contents while dragging.” This setting hinders redraw performance on your Avid editing system.

In Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization > Personalization > Window Color and Appearance > Effects, deselect Show window contents while dragging.

• Enable setting to adjust for best performance.

In Control Panel > System and Maintenance > System > Advanced System Settings > Performance Settings, select Adjust for best performance.

2 Starting a Project

• Disable Desktop compositing.

In Control Panel > System and Maintenance > System > System Protection > Advanced tab > Performance Setting, deselect Enable desktop composition.

• Disable Windows Defender.

In Control Panel > Security > Windows Defender > Tools > Options > Administrator Options, deselect Use Windows Defender > Save.

• Disable Sidebar.

Right-click the Sidebar or Sidebar icon on your desktop > Properties > Deselect Start Sidebar when Windows starts > Right click icon and select Exit.

• Disable Hibernation in the Power options.

In Control Panel > System and Maintenance > Power Options > Change when the computer sleeps > Put the computer to sleep, select Never.

• Set automatic updates to Notify you but don’t automatically download.

In Control Panel > System and Maintenance > Windows Updates > Change settings, select “Notify me but don’t automatically download them or install them.”

• Turn off the firewall for Avid Interplay.

In Control Panel > Security > Windows Firewall, select Turn Windows Firewall on or off.

• Do not leave the Console window open when you edit. The performance of your Avid editing system slows considerably when the Console window is open.

• Do not leave a Windows Explorer window open. Windows Explorer attempts 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.

• Disable screen savers.

• Do not keep media on the same partition where you install your Avid editing application. Avid recommends external media drives.

• Always use small fonts with the display driver to avoid missing characters in the dialog boxes in your Avid editing application.

• After you move a drive from one system to another, restart your system. Windows does not recognize the drive until you restart.

• Ensure you do not accidentally delete locked items from your desktop.

Right-click the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop > Properties > General tab > Display delete confirmation dialog.

• When you advance by single frames through the Timeline, deselect Render On-the Fly to enable faster response time.

In your Avid editing application, deselect Clip > Render On-the-Fly

• 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.

Optimum Performance (Macintosh)

The following list contains suggestions for ensuring optimum performance when working with your Avid editing application on a Macintosh system:

Working with the Desktop

• Do not select the option that puts the hard disk to sleep when possible.

In System Preferences > Hardware Energy Saver, deselect Put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible.

• Set sleep options to Never in Energy Saver preference.

In System Preferences > Hardware Energy Saver, select Never.

• Disable screensavers.

In System Preferences > Personal Desktop & Screen Saver > Screen Saver, select Never.

Antivirus Applications

Antivirus programs that contain autoscanning features can interfere with the operation of your Avid editing application. Since virus scanning is a processor-and disk-intensive activity, it can interfere with capturing and playing real-time effects in your Avid editing application.

Avid recommends you do not scan files or schedule any background tasks such as virus scanning when you use your Avid editing application.

2 Starting a Project

File deletion protection utilities also consume system resources and could interfere with the proper operation of your Avid editing application. These utilities automatically back up any files that you delete, even temporary files that you create and delete with your Avid editing application. This consumes a large amount of disk space.

Starting Your Avid Editing Application (Windows)

By default, your Avid editing application is located 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.

Your Avid editing application does not start properly if you move the application file 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 for Windows XP and the “High Performance” power option for Windows Vista or Windows 7 when you work with Avid editing applications. Other power schemes might affect performance of editing functions (for example, capture and digital cuts).

To start your Avid editing application, do one of the following:

t Click Start > All Programs > Avid > Avid editing application.

t Double-click the Avid editing application desktop icon.

After your Avid editing application starts, the Select Project dialog box opens. For more information on the Select Project dialog box, see

“Working with Projects” on page 47.

Starting Your Avid Editing Application (Macintosh)

Your Avid editing application is in the following location:

Macintosh HD/Applications/Avid editing application

For most users, the desktop or Dock is a more convenient location to start your Avid editing application. The installation process places a shortcut alias icon for your Avid editing application on the desktop.

For more information to make an alias and use the Dock, see your Macintosh

documentation.

Working with Projects

Your Avid editing application does not start properly if you move the application file from the Avid editing application folder. You can drag it onto the Dock, and an alias appears on the Dock.

When you start your Avid editing application, you might see a message box which indicates

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.

Then double-click the Avid editing application file.

You might see a license agreement. After your Avid editing application starts, the Select Project dialog box opens. For more information on the Select Project dialog box, see

“Working with Projects” on page 47.

Working with Projects

When you start the editing application, the system displays the project log in window. Amongst other settings, you can determine the location of the project. Media Composer allows you work with projects in a private location or one that can be shared with other users.

The best choices for a shared structure are either Shared or External. These types of projects are created in a common location, making it easier for the Administrator to locate and delete old projects.

If you are working with projects created on local drives, then note the following:

• A local project resides on the C: drive of the Avid editing system.

• If the connection between the Avid editing system and shared storage is lost, the project and its contents are unlikely to become corrupt as a by-product.

• You cannot login to the project from another workstation. The exception is if you are in an Interplay environment. In this case, you (or other users) must go to the Interplay Projects folder to locate the contents created in this project.

• From an administration standpoint, you must clean these projects up or archive them from each editing system. At a large site this can become time consuming and needs to become part of the Administrator’s workflow.

2 Starting a Project

For information on the files and folders that your Avid editing application creates as part of a project, see “Avid Projects and Avid Users Folders” on page 50.

You should also back up your project information regularly to a separate storage device, as described in “Backing Up Your Project Information” on page 65.

Private

A Private Project is stored locally. It can be accessed only by the user currently logged on to the editing machine. On a Windows system, a Private Project is always stored under the user’s Documents directory. An administrator may be able to access this project if they have read/write permission to the user’s directory.

Private Project, under the My Documents/Avid Projects folder

Working with Projects

Shared

A Shared Project is stored locally. It can be accessed by any user that can log on the editing machine. On a Windows system, a Shared Project is always stored in the machine’s Shared Documents directory.

Shared Project, under the Shared Avid Projects folder

External

An External Project can be saved to any directory, either local or remote. Depending on the file-system permissions set on the selected folder, other users or an administrator may or may not be able to access the project. The external option is particularly useful when you want to save the project on shared network drive to make project maintenance easier.

2 Starting a Project

Avid does not support sharing bins in an Interplay environment. If you create projects on

shared storage, do not allow editors to work in the same bin at the same time. This can result in data loss or media corruption. Instead of sharing bins, editors should use the Interplay Window to collaborate and share material.

External Project, the editor can specify the location

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.

Locations of Avid Project Folders

By default, the system installs two Avid Projects folders:

Private Shared

Windows drive:\Documents and

Settings\Windows login name\Documents\Avid Projects

Macintosh Macintosh HD/Users/Mac login

name/Documents/Avid Projects

drive:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Shared Documents\Shared Avid Projects

Macintosh HD/Users/Shared/Avid editing application/Shared Avid Projects

Locations of Avid Users Folders

The Avid Users folder is located in the application folder:

Working with Projects

Windows Vista or Windows 7

Windows XP drive:\Users\Public\Public Documents\Avid editing application\Avid Users

Macintosh Macintosh HD/Users/Shared/Avid editing application/Avid Users

(Windows only) The location of the Avid Users folder depends on the installation path for

your Avid editing application.

Files and Folders Created For Projects

When you create a new project, your Avid editing application creates a folder with the name that you entered when you created the project. The following three files 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 project settings are initially set to the default values. As you create additional bins for the project (see “Creating a New Bin” on page 76), additional bin (.avb) files are added to the project folder.

drive:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Shared Documents\Avid editing application\Avid Users

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.

2 Starting a Project

Select Project Dialog Box

The Select Project dialog box lets you find and open a project, create a new project, or establish user profiles.

Element Description

1 User Displays the login name of the user currently logged into the system. To change to a

different user, log out and log in as that user.

2 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.

3 User Profile Displays the name associated with the current settings. By default your Avid editing

4 Project list Displays a list of the Avid projects in the currently selected folder. Double-click a

5 Browse button Lets you navigate to a different folder. The projects in this folder appear in the project

You cannot type into the User or Folder text boxes.

application uses the login name. The list button changes profiles or creates a new one. For more information, see “Understanding User Profiles” on page 94.

project to open it.

list. See “Opening and Closing Projects” on page 57.

Working with Projects

Element Description (Continued)

6 Folder buttons The button you select will set the location where you can browse or create projects.

Private: Local folder for the user currently logged in.

Shared: Local folder that is visible to all users that have accounts on this system.

External: Local or remote folder that any other users may have access to depending on the file permissions set on this folder.

For more information, see “Working with Projects” on page 47.

7 New Project button Opens the New Project dialog box to create a new project.

Project Types

The following table lists the format options available for your project. Depending on the model of your Avid editing application, your format options might not include all items listed here.

Project Type Source Footage Transfer Color Space

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 YCbCr

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) YCbCr

25p PAL For 25-fps film footage transferred to PAL videotape YCbCr

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. YCbCr

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). YCbCr

720p/59.94 For video-originated material. Can be directly captured, edited, and output

for HD broadcast.

1080p/23.976 For film footage transferred to videotape, or high-resolution files from

digital film cameras.

™

)

YCbCr

YCbCr RGB

2 Starting a Project

Project Type Source Footage Transfer (Continued) Color Space

1080p/24 For film footage transferred to videotape, or high-resolution files from

digital film cameras. True 24-fps editing.

1080p/25 For film footage transferred to videotape, or high-resolution files from

digital film cameras.

1080p/29.97 For film footage transferred to videotape, or high-resolution files from

digital film cameras.

1080i/50 For video-originated material, or high-resolution files from digital film

cameras. Can be directly captured, edited, and output for HD broadcast.

1080i/59.94 For video-originated material, or high-resolution files from digital film

cameras. Can be directly captured, edited, and output for HD broadcast.

Some older versions of Avid editing applications provided HD project types based on HDV

requirements. In current versions of Avid editing applications, these are replaced by standard HD projects that let you specify the raster dimensions for editing and playback.

Set film preferences in the Film and 24P Settings dialog box immediately after you create a

project to provide your Avid editing application with important information about the type of film and audio transfer you used for your project.

Creating a New Project

YCbCr RGB

You can open a project in any format. The settings you choose for your project will dictate the format and settings for all sequences within this project.

To create a new project:

1. Start your Avid editing application.

The Select Project dialog box opens.

For more information, see “Select Project Dialog Box” on page 52.

2. In the Select Project dialog box, select the folder in which you want to create the project: Private, Shared, or External — see

3. Click New Project.

The New Project dialog box opens.

4. Type the name of your new project in the text box.

Project names may be given certain conventions — see “Setting Project-Naming

Conventions” on page 57.

Working with Projects.

Creating a New Project

5. Click the Format menu and select a project format that matches your media and delivery requirements.

The rest of the options might change depending on the project format you choose.

Example of the New Project dialog box

6. Set the following additional option(s), where applicable:

Option SD HD

Aspect Ratio Select either

4:3 or 16:9

The project uses the aspect ratio setting to determine the display setting in the monitors, and as a factor in determining whether material requires resizing or repositioning in sequences. For more information, see “Mixing Frame Sizes and

Aspect Ratios” on page 594

Raster Dimension

Color Space N/A Specifies the color space for some HD project types, either RGB 709

N/A The Raster Dimension menu appears only for HD projects on a

Always uses the 16:9 aspect ratio.

supported system. For more information,

or YCbCr 709. For more information, see “Project Types” on

page 53 and “Working with Color Spaces in HD Projects” on page 84.

2 Starting a Project

Option SD HD

Film Available 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.

Audio Transfer Rate

Matchback Available 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

Available for 24p PAL projects. For more information, see “Audio

Transfer Options for 24p PAL Projects” on page 1423.

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 to open the project.

The Project window, the Composer window, and the Timeline open with your User settings loaded.

Project name and user name in the title bar (left) and Close button (right) in the Project window

9. (Option) If your project uses a film project type, set film preferences immediately after you create the project.

Setting Project-Naming Conventions

The system limits bins and project names to 27 characters, not including the period and 3-character extension that the system automatically adds to a file name. 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 you name a project, bin, and user.

(Macintosh only) If you use your Avid editing application as a standalone editor (and don’t plan to move your bins or projects to another platform), you can extend bin and project names to 31 characters. You can also choose to accept or not accept the Windows compatible file naming convention of special characters and spacing.

To use Windows compatible file names

1. Click the Settings tab in the Project window.

The Settings list appears.

2. Double-click General Settings.

3. Select Use Windows compatible file names.

This prevents your Avid editing application from accepting the restricted characters in a bin, project, or user name.

To extend project and bin names to 31 characters (Macintosh only)

1. Click the Settings tab in the Project window.

The Settings list appears.

2. Double-click General Settings.

3. Select Allow files names to extend 27 characters.

This extends the names of projects and bins to 31 characters.

Opening and Closing Projects

You can open a project from the Select Project dialog box, and navigate from the Select Project dialog box to find any project on your system.

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.

If you choose to install the sample startup project and media when you install your Avid editing application, you can open this project from the Select Project dialog box. The startup project, called Avid Boston Project DV25, contains a complete sequence with rendered effects and titles, as well as all the video and audio clips used in the sequence.

2 Starting a Project

Use the startup project to learn how to edit with your Avid editing application, before you capture any media of your own. You can explore the sequence in the Timeline to learn how it is assembled, and use the clips to practice viewing and editing techniques described in this guide.

If a sequence that was created in an older version of an Avid editing application contains

effects or color corrections, you might need to update the sequence. If a sequence requires updating, the Update Sequence dialog box might open when you load the sequence. For more information, see “Updating and Reverting Existing Effects in Sequences” in the Help.

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 52.

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.

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.

Opening and Closing Projects

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.

Browse button in the Select Project dialog box

2 Starting a Project

2. Click the Browse button.

The Browse for Folder (Windows) or Project Directory (Macintosh) dialog box opens.

3. Navigate to the folder that contains the project you want.

Opening and Closing Projects

4. Click OK (Windows) or Choose (Macintosh).

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.

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.

3. Click the General tab, select “Automatically Launch Last Project at Startup,” and then click OK.

The next time you start your Avid editing application, it opens your last project.

To turn off the automatic opening of projects so that you can select another project when you start your Avid editing application:

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.

To open the startup project:

1. In the Select Project dialog box, click the Shared folder button.

2. Double-click Avid Boston Project DV25 in the Project list.

The Avid Boston Project DV25 project opens.

The footage in the Avid Boston Project DV25 project is shot in 16:9 aspect ratio. To view the

footage correctly in monitors, click the Format tab in the Project Window and set aspect ratio to 16:9.

2 Starting a Project

3. In the Format tab of the Project window, ensure that Aspect Ratio is set to 16:9.

The footage in the Avid Boston Project DV25 project is shot in 16:9 aspect ratio.

4. Use the Bins tab in the Project window to open one or both of the bins in the project:

- Boston Seq DV25 contains a complete sequence

- Boston Project source contains all the video and audio clips in the project

For more information on opening bins, see “Opening and Closing Bins” on page 77.

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

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

Media related to a deleted project is not deleted with the project folder. For more

information on deleting media files, see

“Deleting Media Files with the Media Tool” on page 463.

“Deleting Items from a Bin” on page 354 and

Quitting and Turning Off Equipment

If you work in an Avid shared storage environment, your Avid editing application writes a media database file (.mdb) to the workspace where you work. Before you quit your Avid editing application, make sure that the workspace has approximately 50 MB of storage space available. Ask your Avid shared storage administrator to increase the space if you need more storage.

Quitting and Turning Off Equipment

To quit your Avid editing application and leave it immediately:

t (Macintosh) Select Avid editing application > Quit Avid editing application.

t (Windows) Select File > Exit.

The project closes and your Avid editing application quits.

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” on page 124.

Quit your Avid editing application before you turn off your equipment.

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. If you have an Avid input/output device attached to your system, turn it off.

3. Turn off peripheral devices (such as monitors and speakers).

2 Starting a Project

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.

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 you start your Avid editing application. For information about the location of the Avid Projects and Avid Users folders, see “Avi d

Projects and Avid Users Folders” on page 50.

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 highlights.

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. Because the storage requirements are minimal, you can back up these files to a variety of storage devices, such as:

•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 477.

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).

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.

“Backing Up Media Files”

4. Navigate to the folder that contains the project folder or the user folder you want to save.

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.

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).

3. Drag the copies from the storage device to the appropriate folder on the internal hard drive (Windows) or

When you start your Avid editing application, the restored project and user profile appear in the Select Project dialog box.

If you restore a single bin or bins, you must relink them to the project from within the Project

window. For more information, see

Macintosh HD/Users/Shared

“Opening and Closing Bins” on page 77.

(Macintosh).

2 Starting a Project

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 66 and “Retrieving Files from the Avid Attic Folder (Macintosh)” on page 69.

For information on setting automatic save features, see “Saving Bins” on page 81.

(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 you retrieve 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.

2. From the desktop, double-click the Avid Attic folder, located in:

(Windows XP)

Documents\Avid editing application

(Windows Vista or Windows 7)

editing application

The Avid Attic folder opens and displays a folder for each project.

drive:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Shared

drive:/Users/Public/Public Documents/Avid

Avid Attic Folder

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.

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 38.

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 (*.*).

2 Starting a Project

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.

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.

Avid Attic Folder

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.

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 your Avid editing application.

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

3. Select File > Open Bin.

folder.

Macintosh HD/Users/Shared/Avid editing

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.

2 Starting a Project

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

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.

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 open a toolset:

t Select Toolset > toolset.

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.

To remove your customizations:

t Select Toolset > Restore Current to Default.

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” on page 1251.

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.

Using Toolsets

2 Starting a Project

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 describe features of the Project window:

• Overview of the Project Window

• Controlling Project Window Display

• Using the Bins Tab

• Using the Settings Tab

• Using the Format Tab

• Using the Usage Tab

• Using the Info Tab

• Managing Bins and Memory

• Understanding User Profiles

• Managing User Profiles

• Customizing the Avid User Interface

• User-Customized Workspaces

• Working with Bins and Projects in an Avid Shared Storage Environment

3 Working with the Project Window

Overview of the Project Window

The Project window is a central location for important information and tools that you need as you work on your project.

Project window information is organized in tabs.

Tab Function

Bins Lets you create and open bins. See “Using the Bins Tab” on page 75.

Settings Lets you view and modify settings. See “Using the Settings Tab” on page 83.

Effects Lets you access a library of effects. See “Applying Effects” in the Help.

Format Lets you view information about the format of the project. See “Using the Format

Tab” on page 84.

Usage Lets you view information about the work session usage.

Info Lets you view information about system memory usage and system hardware

configuration.

Controlling Project Window Display

The Project window opens automatically when you select a project. You can use the Project window’s tab to change the display of information in the window.

The Project window is always open when you are working in a project. However, it might become hidden behind open bins or tools.

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 area of the Project window to bring it forward.

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

When you create a project, your Avid editing application automatically creates a bin with the name of the new project, which displays in the Bins tab. 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 that you create for other projects.

Using the Bins Tab

Viewing a List of Bins

You can view a list of bins in the Project window. The Bins list displays the number, names, sizes, and location of the bins. Bins from other projects appear in the Project window in italic.

3 Working with the Project Window

To view a list of bins associated with the project:

t Click the Bins tab in the Project window.

Fast menu button (top) and Bins list with bin icons (bottom) in the Bins tab of 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.

2. In the Project window, click the new bin name and type in a new name.

3. Press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh).

A corresponding bin file is placed in the Avid Projects folder, and a backup copy is placed in the Avid Attic folder. For more information, see

“Avid Projects and Avid Users

Folders” on page 50 and “Avid Attic Folder” on page 66.

To place a bin in a folder:

t Drag the bin to the folder icon.

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 / \ : * ? “ < > | or leading spaces, trailing spaces, or trailing periods, when you name a project, bin, and user. 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 your Avid editing application from accepting these restricted characters in a bin, project, or user name. If you use 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 to extend bin and project names to 31 characters.

To change the name of a bin:

1. Click the bin name in the Bins list.

2. Type a new name.

Using the Bins Tab

Project name in title bar (top) and default bin name based on Project name (bottom) in the Bins tab of the Project window.

Opening and Closing Bins

You can open a single bin or open multiple bins at once. You can also open a bin from another project.

If you have the SuperBin enabled, see “Working with the SuperBin” on page 384.

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.

3 Working with the Project Window

To open a bin directly:

1. Click the Bins tab.

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 Command+click (Macintosh) each additional bin you want to open.

3. Select File > Open Selected Bins.

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 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 your system; 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 to help organize your project. You can drag bins into folders or drag folders into folders.

Fast Menu button (top), folders and folder arrows (center), and the Trash icon (bottom) in the Bins tab of the Project window.

Using the Bins Tab

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.

3 Working with the Project Window

Creating a Folder

To create a folder in a project:

1. Click the Bins tab in the Project window.

2. Click the Fast Menu button, and select New Folder.

A new untitled folder appears.

3. Click the untitled folder name in the Bins list and rename it.

Deleting a Bin or Folder

You can delete bins and folders along with their contents from the Bins list. 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

and Emptying the Trash” on page 81.

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, and do one of the

following:

- If the SuperBin is not enabled, press the Delete key.

- If the SuperBin is enabled, right-click the bin name and select Delete Selected Bins.

For more information on using the Superbin feature, see “Working with the

SuperBin” on page 384.

A Trash icon appears in the Bins list in the Project window. The Trash contains the deleted item.

The Trash is not visible in the Project window until you delete your first item.

Viewing and Emptying the Trash

If you need to view the contents in the Trash or decide you do not want to delete those items, you must first move the bins and folders from the Trash.

Using the Bins Tab

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 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.

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 hard drive.

Saving Bins

Your Avid editing application automatically saves changes to your work on a regular basis. You can modify the frequency of the automatic backups.

You can also manually save a specific bin, selected bins, or all bins. You might want to do this immediately after performing an important edit.

When you work with bins, an asterisk appears before the bin name in the bin’s title bar. The asterisk indicates that the changes to the bin have not been saved. After you save the bin, your Avid editing application removes the asterisk.

When an autosave occurs, any open bins update with changes made since the last autosave, and copies of these bins are placed in the project’s backup bin folder:

Windows XP drive:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Shared Documents\Avid editing

application\Avid Attic folder

Windows Vista and Windows 7

Macintosh /Users/Shared/Avid editing application/Avid Attic folder

drive:\Users\Public\Public Documents\Avid editing application\Avid Attic folder

3 Working with the Project Window

Your Avid editing application automatically saves copies of all bins into the Avid Attic folder at regular intervals for backup. When your work is lost, or when you want to recover an earlier version of a bin or sequence, you can retrieve files from the Avid Attic folder.

To adjust the frequency of automatic saves:

1. In the Project window, click the Settings tab, and then double-click Bin.

The Bin Settings dialog box opens.

2. Type a number in the Auto-Save interval text box.

3. Click OK.

Setting to zero the maximum number of files stored in the Avid Attic folder as well as the

maximum number of versions of a bin deletes existing files in the project folder in the Avid Attic folder and prevents any backup bins from being saved. For more information about backup options, see

“Bin Settings” on page 1271.

Saving Bins Manually

To save a specific bin:

1. Click the bin to activate it.

2. Select File > Save Bin.

To save selected bins:

1. In the Bins tab, 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.

2. Select File > Save All.

The system saves all the bins for the project.

Using the Settings Tab

From the Settings tab in the Project window, you can view, select, open, and alter various User, Project, and Site settings. Each setting either displays information about that specific tool or window or lets you select options or preferences associated with that tool or window. For more information, see “Viewing and Modifying Settings” on page 1251.

To view the Settings list:

t Click the Settings tab in the Project window.

Using the Settings Tab

To open a setting:

t Double-click the setting in the Settings list.

To view Help for a setting:

t Open a setting and press the F1 key (Windows) or the Help key (Macintosh).

3 Working with the Project Window

Using the Format Tab

The Format tab in the Project window lets you view basic project information, such as the video format (NTSC, for example). The 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.

If you switch from one project type, aspect ratio, color space, or raster dimension to another

during the course of your workflow, you might create precomputed clips that have not rendered with the quality that you need for your final output. You might need to manually purge the precomputed clips and re-render effects. For more information, see “Ensuring the Quality Level of Precomputed Clips” 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.

To open the Format tab:

t Click the Format tab.

Working with Color Spaces in HD Projects

In full HD projects, some Avid editing applications and Avid input/output hardware devices let you work in either the YCbCr or the RGB color space. Your Avid editing application uses a project’s color space setting to control how it displays video, processes most effects, and outputs sequences.

Working with Color Spaces in HD Projects

RGB and YCbCr both separate colors into three channels, but they store color information differently. When you choose which color space to work in, you need to take several factors into consideration, including the color space of your media, your output needs, and your performance expectations for your Avid editing application while editing.

The RGB color space is not available for 720p or NTSC/PAL SD projects.

Understanding the YCbCr Color Space

YCbCr performs better, but is of lesser quality.

YCbCr stores brightness (Y) separately from colors (Cb and Cr). Since humans are more susceptible to changes in light than in color, YCbCr discards half the chrominance data (one-third of the overall data) with little discernible difference to image quality. Media that uses YCbCr takes up less disk space than media that uses RGB, and less bandwidth is required to play it.

YCbCr is the only color space available for SD media, because SD requires lower bandwidths and might need to maintain backwards compatibility with black-and-white displays. When you only need SD output, you only need to work in the YCbCr color space.

Newer HD technologies can display detailed images with sharp changes in color. Because some color data is missing, YCbCr media does not take full advantage of HD display hardware. The limited color information available in YCbCr also means that the results of effects processing are not as good as they could be with RGB media.

Understanding the RGB Color Space

RGB produces higher quality images and effects, but takes up more space.

RGB separates images into their constituting colors: red (R), green (G), and blue (B) and does not discard any of the chrominance data. As a result, video images look sharper, particularly those with fast motion or abrupt changes in color. Newer HD formats support RGB only.

Because no color data is lost, your Avid editing application can make more precise calculations when processing effects using RGB media. The quality improvement over YCbCr processing is most noticeable in effects that perform color analysis, such as chroma keyers. Even if the original video data is in YCbCr, your should consider converting to RGB to process effects as precisely as possible.

The disadvantage of RGB is file size. Media that uses RGB takes up more disk space than media that uses YCbCr, and more bandwidth is required to play it. Some systems might not be able to handle playback of RGB material smoothly, particularly when you use the J-K-L keys to play at greater than normal speed or to play in reverse.

3 Working with the Project Window

RGB media requires high bandwidth. For effective playback of multiple streams of video at

higher resolutions, you should distribute the video tracks as evenly as possible among available drives, and target separate drives for audio and video.

Choosing a Color Space for Your Project

Your choice of a color space depends on both your input/output hardware and your desired output. For information on how to define the color space for a project, see “Changing the

Project Color Space for an HD Project” on page 87.

If your hardware supports both RGB and YCbCr, choose the color space that corresponds to your output needs.

If your hardware supports only YCbCr, you can choose RGB for your project color space to maintain maximum quality throughout your workflow. Your Avid editing application converts your material to YCbCr right before sending it to the hardware for monitoring or output. However, choosing RGB in your project is only useful if your input media is in RGB. Otherwise, you should set your project color space to YCbCr.

The project color space specifies how your Avid editing application processes effects in real time. Your Avid editing application supports native processing of effects in either the RGB or YCbCr color spaces. For example, this means that RGB media does not need to be converted to YCbCr for processing, maintaining maximum video quality until the final output.

Mixing Media of Different Color Spaces

You can work with media of different color spaces in the same sequence. For example, you can mix SD YCbCr and HD RGB. When you mix media in this way, your video editing application converts media to the project’s color space when necessary. This conversion takes place internally during the processing of real-time effects and prior to output.

The color space of your media depends on its format. Tape-based SD and HD media uses the YCbCr color space. Newer HD digital formats, such as R3D, use RGB. See “Resolution

Specifications” on page 1376 for information about supported formats.

You can check the color space of the media for any clip in your project by viewing the Color Space bin heading in the bin that contains the clip. For more information, see “Moving,

Aligning, and Deleting Bin Columns” on page 363.

Changing the Project Color Space for an HD Project

You typically set the color space for a project when you create the project (see “Creating a

New Project” on page 54). However, you can change the color space at any time.

The RGB color space is only available in full HD projects. 720p and NTSC/PAL projects can only use the YCbCr color space.

Changing the project color space does not affect the rendering of titles and effects or change the color space of imported media. Your Avid editing application controls these according to their Media Creation Settings. For more information, see “Media Creation Settings” on

page 1334.

To change the project color space:

1. Click the Format tab in the Project window.

2. Click the Color Space menu, and select either RGB 709 or YCbCr 709, depending on the color space you want to use.

Color Space menu in the Format tab of the Project window

Your Avid editing application now displays video and processes real-time effects in the new color space. The final output is also in the new space.

3 Working with the Project Window

Using the Usage Tab

The Statistics feature gathers and reports information on system usage. You can use this information to support business functions such as resource management.

All statistics are gathered and reported by project. The file that contains this information is formatted so you can use it as input to software programs such as analysis applications, spreadsheets, or report generators.

Do not rely on the Statistics feature for billing or other financial purposes.

To view and update statistics for an open project:

t Click the Usage tab in the Project window.

To print the Statistics file:

t Select File > Print Usage.

Statistics File Structure and Layout

A new Statistics file is created each time you open the project. The files are stored in a Statistics folder inside each project folder.

The file name has the following format:

Statistics.yymmdd.HHMMSS

where:

Variable Description

yy Indicates the last two digits of the year

mm Indicates the month

dd Indicates the day

HH Indicates the hour

MM Indicates the minutes

SS Indicates the seconds

Using the Usage Tab

The statistics file is formatted as comma-separated ASCII text, so it can be accepted by a variety of software programs. Each line in the file is tagged with indicators for identifying content and data type to assist in programming custom applications. The following illustration shows a sample Statistics file.

3 Working with the Project Window

The values in the first column indicate the content of the line:

100

101

102

104

105

106

110

111

113

114

115

116

117

title1

title2

Title Only

project info

Time Project open

Capture tool open

Capture tool active

Captured Media bytes used

Rendered Effects bytes used

Effects rendering time

Title tool open

Title tool active

Title tool rendering

Capture tool capturing

Capture tool logging

user comments

The values in the second column indicate the type of data in the line:

project info

time used

bytes used

text string

Importing the Statistics File into a Spreadsheet

You can import the Statistics file into a spreadsheet or other program as an ASCII file and use your Avid editing application to set up the proper format.

To import a Statistics file into Microsoft Excel:

1. Start Microsoft Excel.

2. Select File > Open, and navigate to the Statistics file you want to import.

(Windows only) Make sure All Files (*.*) is selected in the Files of Type list.

Using the Usage Tab

3. Click Open.

The Text Import wizard starts.

4. Select Delimited for the Original Data Type, and click Next.

5. Select Comma for Delimiters, and click Next.

6. Select General for Column Data Format.

7. Click Finish.

The statistics file appears in spreadsheet format.

The following illustration is the sample file from the previous section as it appears when you import it into a spreadsheet.

3 Working with the Project Window

Displaying Disk Space Statistics

You must use a Console command to calculate and display statistics for disk space in the Usage window.

To display disk space statistics in the Usage window:

1. Select Tools > Console.

2. In the command entry text box, type:

toggleStatSpace

3. Press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh).

4. Select File > Load Media Database.

After the media database is loaded, the Usage window displays the number of files and disk space used for captured media and rendered effects.

To update the display:

t Click the Usage tab in the Project window.

To prevent recalculation:

t Reenter the

toggleStatSpace

Using the Info Tab

The Info display in the Project window lets you view system memory information and access the Hardware tool. The items listed in this display are for information only and cannot be changed. The Hardware tool gives a visual representation of usage for each drive and provides operating system information.

To open the Info display:

t Click the Info tab in the Project window.

command.

Managing Bins and Memory

To display system memory information:

t Click the Info tab, and then click the Memory button.

The Memory window opens with the following information:

Item Description

Objects The total number of memory handles currently used by your Avid

editing application. Objects include memory requirements of your Avid editing application, such as windows, clips, sequences, and other items associated with a project.

You can improve the performance of large projects when you reduce the number of objects. To do this,

close unused bins, unmount unused media drives, consolidate finished elements, eliminate old material from the project, or divide the project into separate projects. Then quit and restart your Avid editing application. If performance is still slow, restart your system.

Total physical memory (Windows) or Total Mem (Macintosh)

Available physical memory (Windows) or Free Mem (Macintosh)

Total page file The total number of bytes stored in the paging file. The paging file is

Available page file The total number of bytes available in the paging files.

Working set (minimum and maximum)

To open the Hardware tool, do one of the following:

The total number of bytes of RAM (random-access memory).

The amount of RAM available for allocation by the Windows or Macintosh system.

used as virtual memory by the Windows system.

The set of memory pages currently available to your Avid editing application in RAM.

t Click the Info tab in the Project window, and then click the Hardware button.

t Select Tools > Hardware.

The Hardware tool opens.

For more information about the Hardware tool, see “Using the Hardware Tool” on

page 124.

Managing Bins and Memory

System memory usage increases depending on how many bins you have open, the number of sequences in a bin, the number of tools that are open, and the size of a sequence. Using more memory can slow system performance.

3 Working with the Project Window

In the Bin tab of the Project window, a memory usage indicator increases and updates as you open and close bins. Avid recommends that you keep memory usage below 80-85%. If you exceed the recommended usage, a dialog box opens informing you that your memory usage is high and recommends that you close some bins and save your project.

If your system is running low on memory and you need to free up memory, you can either close your bins or use the Clear Memory button. If you close your bins, some of your memory remains unavailable until you exit your Avid editing application because the online master clips remain in memory. The Clear Memory button, however, closes and saves all of your open bins and clears out any cached data of the online master clips.

Bins containing sequences use more memory than bins containing master clips. For bins that contain a large number of sequences, you can free up memory and still keep your old sequences. Create an archive bin and move older sequences that you do not use anymore to the archive bin. Keep the archive bin closed.

To free up memory:

1. Click the Info tab of the Project window.

2. Click the Clear Memory button.

A dialog box opens asking if you want to close and save all opened bins.

3. Click OK.

This operation deletes cached data for the online master clips only. Memory might also be used by other parts of your Avid editing application and will not be reduced by using the Clear Memory button.

Understanding User Profiles

User profiles let you switch between settings without having to log out of your system and log back in under a different user name.

User profiles let you establish separate settings for different editing functions. User “Jane,” for example, can have separate profiles for “Audio editor,” “Film editor,” or for “Assistant 1,” “Assistant 2,” and so on.

User profile folders are kept in the following folder:

Windows XP drive:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Shared Documents\Avid editing

application\Avid Users\UserName

Windows Vista and Windows 7

drive:\Users\Public\Public Documents\Avid editing application\Avid Users\UserName

Understanding User Profiles

Macintosh /Users/Shared/Avid editing application/Avid Users/UserName

You can do the following with user profiles:

• Create new user profiles

• Switch between user profiles

• Return to the original user profile

• Import settings from another user or user profile

• Create a user profile on one system, export it to a server, and then import the same user profile from another system to the new system.

When you export a user profile, you can select either a Personal or Group profile.

- When you select Personal, the user profile performs an auto-load and an auto-save

every time you open a project. Every time the user profile is updated, it saves the new profile information. For example, you can create the user profile Jennie on one system, export it to another location (a server), and then import it to a different system. Any time you change the Jennie user profile, it updates to the server and when you open the Jennie user profile on either system, it uses the most updated Jennie user profile.

- When you select Group, the user profile auto-loads but it does not auto-save.

Changes made to the user profile only affect the system where you made the change. The changes do not update to the server.

When you export User Profiles in an Avid shared storage environment, make sure the

workspace containing the user profile has the same drive letter on all systems.

You can not share user profiles across platforms (Macintosh to Windows or Windows to

Macintosh).

• Update a user profile to add user settings to an existing Settings list.

For example, if you upgrade to a version of your Avid editing application that contains the Send To option from a version that did not have that option, you can choose the Update User Profile option to make sure the Send To settings templates appear in your Settings list.

For step-by-step procedures, see “Managing User Profiles” on page 96.

3 Working with the Project Window

Managing User Profiles

To create a user profile:

1. Click the Settings tab in the Project window.

The User Profile Selection menu in the Settings tab of the Project window

2. Click the User Profile Selection menu, and select Create User Profile.

The Create User Profile dialog box opens.

3. Type a name in the Profile Name text box, and then click OK.

The new user profile appears selected in the menu, and the user profile name appears in the Project window title bar.

To import user settings from another user or user profile:

1. Click the Settings tab.

2. Click the User Profile Selection menu, and select another user profile.

3. The new user profile name appears in the Project window title bar.

To return to the original user profile:

1. Click the Settings tab.

2. Click the User Profile Selection menu, and select the default user profile.

If you use a user profile other than the default and you change to another project, the default

user settings load, even though the Project window displays your non-default user profile name. You must reselect the user profile.

Managing User Profiles

To import user settings from another user or user profile:

1. Click the Settings tab.

2. Click the User Profile Selection menu, and select Import User or User Profile.

3. Navigate to the user or user profile you want to import.

To export user settings to another user or user profile:

1. Click the Settings tab.

2. Click the User Profile Selection menu, and select Export User or User Profile.

3. Select Personal or Group.

4. Navigate to the location where you want to place the user or user profile.

5. Click OK.

To update user profiles:

1. Click the Settings tab.

2. Click the User Profile Selection menu, and select Update User Profiles.

Any new settings added to the upgraded version of your Avid editing application appear in the Settings list.

To delete a user profile from your desktop:

1. Navigate to the Avid Users folder, and then select the user folder you want to delete.

For information about the location of the Avid folders, see “Avid Projects and Avid

Users Folders” on page 50.

2. Do one of the following:

t (Windows) Press the Delete key, then click OK in the dialog box.

t (Macintosh) Drag the folder to the Trash.

3. Empty the Recycle Bin (Windows) or the Trash (Macintosh) to remove the files from the system.

4. Close the windows, and restart your Avid editing application.

The deleted user no longer appears in the Select Project dialog box.

3 Working with the Project Window

Customizing the Avid User Interface

The Interface Settings dialog box provides you with controls for customizing the brightness and the colors of the Avid user interface. For complete reference information on the Interface Settings dialog box, see “Interface Settings” on page 1330.

The Interface Settings dialog box allows you to set the highlight color for buttons. You can also control the brightness of the user interface, which includes the following components:

• Application, tool, toolbar, and dialog box backgrounds

• Buttons and button contents

• Project background

The Avid editing application lets you modify the colors of some interface components using controls not included in the Interface Settings dialog box:

• Bin media object color — see “Assigning Colors to Objects in a Bin” on page 359.

• Timeline clip color — see “Displaying Clip Colors in the Timeline” on page 667.

• Timeline background and track colors — see “Changing the Timeline Background or

Track Color” on page 671.

• Bin background color — see “Changing the Bin Background Color” on page 358.

Changing Interface Component Colors

You can use a brightness selection slider and selection buttons to change the appearance of some interface components.

When you use the selection slider to modify interface settings, it overwrites any previous user settings. Avid recommends you save a copy of your user settings before you use the selection slider.

Customizing the Avid User Interface

To set the brightness and color of interface components:

1. In the Project window, click the Settings tab, and then double-click Interface.

The Interface dialog box opens.

2. Click a highlight color to change button highlight colors.

3. Click the Interface Brightness slider to adjust the brightness of the user interface. The Avid editing application provides several presets on the slider.

4. (Option) If you want to set the color of the video, audio, or timecode tracks to the default, select the appropriate option.

5. (Option) If you want to be able to set custom background colors for bins, select Allow Custom Bin Backgrounds.

For more information, see “Changing the Bin Background Color” on page 358.

3 Working with the Project Window

6. Do one of the following:

t Click Apply to apply the changes you selected.

If you click Cancel after you click Apply, interface components retain the colors you applied.

t Click OK to close the dialog box and put the new setting into effect.

t Click Cancel to close the dialog box.

The changes you select do not take effect.

Changing Font and Point Size

You can change the default font and point sizes of the Project, Bin, Composer monitor, Script, and Timeline windows. You can vary the fonts and point sizes across these windows. For example, you can set the Project window to Helvetica, 13 pt.; set one Bin window to Times Roman, 11 pt.; and set another Bin window to Arial, 12 pt.

The table describes the windows you can change, and where these changes are saved.

Window Location of Changes

Project Changes the font and point size of the text in the Project window; saves as a Project

setting.

Bin Changes the font and point size of the text in the Bin window; saves as a Bin setting

(not a Bin View setting).

Composer monitor

Script Changes the font and point size of the text in the Script window; saves as a Script

Timeline Changes the font and point size of clip text; saves as a Timeline View setting.

To change the font in the Project, Bin, Composer monitor, Script, or Timeline window:

Changes the font and point size of the sequence or source clip name text; saves as a Composer setting.

setting.

1. Click the Project, Bin, Composer monitor, Script, or Timeline window to make it active.

2. Select Edit > Set Font.

The Set Font dialog box opens.

3. Click the Font menu, and select a font.

Any font installed on the Avid system appears in the list. For information on adding fonts to

your system, see the documentation for your operating system.

100

Pinnacle Systems Symphony - 5.5 Editing Guide

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

Using This Guide

Symbols and Conventions

If You Need Help

Accessing the Goodies Folder

Avid Training Services

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

Starting Your Avid Editing Application (Windows)

Starting Your Avid Editing Application (Macintosh)

Working with Projects

Creating a New Project

Setting Project-Naming Conventions

Opening and Closing Projects

Deleting a Project

Quitting and Turning Off Equipment

Changing Project and User Names

Backing Up Your Project Information

Avid Attic Folder

Using Toolsets

3 Working with the Project Window

Overview of the Project Window

Controlling Project Window Display

Using the Bins Tab

Using the Settings Tab

Using the Format Tab

Working with Color Spaces in HD Projects

Changing the Project Color Space for an HD Project

Using the Usage Tab

Using the Info Tab

Managing Bins and Memory

Understanding User Profiles

Managing User Profiles

Customizing the Avid User Interface