Pinnacle Systems Symphony Nitris - 1.5, Symphony Nitris - 1.0 User Manual

Avid® Symphony™ Nitris

Conform and Finishing Guide

make manage move | media

™

Avid

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

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Portions of this software are based on work of the Independent JPEG Group.

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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. Windhorse — Courtesy of Paul Wagner Productions.

GOT FOOTAGE?

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

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

Avid Symphony Nitris Conform and Finishing Guide • 0130-07235-01 • November 2005

Using This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

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

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

Related Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Accessing the Online Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

How to Order Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Avid Educational Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Section 1 Conforming and Mastering

Chapter 1 Conforming and Transferring Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Compatibility Between Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Conforming Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Preparing for the Online Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Delivery Requirements for Final Masters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Offline Formats for HD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

File Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

System Compatibility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Preparing Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Preparing Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Preparing Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Preparing Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Step 1: Transfer Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Transferring Project Information Only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Transferring Project Files and Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Step 2: Open the Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Step 3: Measure the Video Signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Step 4: Recapture Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Step 5: Import and Lay in the Final Audio Mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Step 6: Batch Import Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Step 7: Re-create Title Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Redefining a Font Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Step 8: Refine Effects and Perform Color Correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Step 9: Render Effects as Needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Step 10: Create the Final Masters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Conforming Sequences Created with HDV Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Conforming Sequences with Color Correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Conforming with Symphony Meridien Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Conforming with Adrenaline or Avid Mojo Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Transferring Color Corrections with Color Correction Templates . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Transferring Project and Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Transferring Audio Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Transferring Sound Designer II Audio Files from Macintosh Systems . . . . 44

Transferring a Project Using Shared Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Transferring Project Files and Media Files Using Nonshared Storage . . . . . . . 45

Devices and Methods for Transferring Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Transferring Files Between Windows Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Transferring Files Between Macintosh and Windows Systems . . . . . . . . . 49

Nonshared Storage Issues for Cross-Platform Collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Transferring Media Files from Media Composer Version 7.2 or Avid Xpress

Version 2.1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Chapter 2 Working with HD Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

High-Definition Television. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

HDTV Workflows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Film-Based Television Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Video-Based Television Workflow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Broadcast Graphics Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Editing in HD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Changing the Project Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Modifying the Format of a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Converting a 24p NTSC Sequence to 1080p/23.976 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Converting a 23.976p NTSC Sequence to 720p/23.976 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Mixing SD and HD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Displaying Formats in a Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Editing at 60 fps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Working with True 24 FPS Timecode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Transcoding HD Media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Video Color Space for HD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Section 2 Finishing Tools

Chapter 3 Motion Tracking and Stabilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Understanding Motion Tracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Understanding the Tracking Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Uses of Motion Tracking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Motion Tracking and Footage Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Workflow for Motion Tracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Effects and Effect Parameters That Use Tracking Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Understanding the Tracking Interface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Tracking Controls in the Effect Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Tracking Controls in the Effect Preview Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

The Tracking Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Setting Up an Effect for Tracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Understanding Video Layers and Motion Tracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Applying an Effect for Motion Tracking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Making Non-Tracking Parameter Adjustments to an Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Preparing to Generate Tracking Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Enabling Tracking in the Effect Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Creating and Mapping Trackers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Understanding Tracker Selectors and Tracker Function. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Creating and Mapping Trackers Manually. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Enabling, Disabling, and Deleting Trackers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Setting Up Tracking in the Effect Preview Monitor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Displaying Tracking Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Adjusting Tracking Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Guidelines for Positioning Tracking Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Guidelines for Resizing Tracking Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Setting Up Tracking in the Tracking Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Choosing a Tracking Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Choosing Background or Foreground Tracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Generating Tracking Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Offset Tracking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Understanding Offset Tracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Adding and Deleting Tracker Regions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Moving to a Tracking Region. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Performing Offset Tracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Understanding Generated Tracking Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Tracking Data in the Effect Preview Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Tracking Data in the Tracker Timelines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Customizing Tracking Data Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Setting the Reference Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Using SteadyGlide and Smoothing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Modifying Tracking Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Finding a Specific Tracker Data Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Selecting Tracker Data Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Deleting Tracking Data From Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Moving Tracker Data Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Moving Tracker Data Points Outside the Frame Boundary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Stretching a Range of Tracker Data Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Limiting the Effect of Position Tracking Data to a Single Axis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Playback of Effects Using Tracking Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Stabilizing an Image. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Guidelines for Using Multiple Trackers When Stabilizing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Using the Region Stabilize Effect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Stabilizing an Image with the Region Stabilize Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Making Adjustments to the Region Stabilize Region of Interest . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Editing Segments That Use Tracking Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Segment Mode Editing with Segments That Use Tracking Data. . . . . . . . . . . 117

Trimming Segments That Use Tracking Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Adding Transition Effects to Tracked Segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Reusing Existing Tracking Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

When to Reuse Tracking Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Copying and Pasting Tracking Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Conforming Symphony Meridien Sequences with Tracking Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Examples of Effects Using Motion Tracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Example 1: Replacing the License Plate on a Moving Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Example 2: Special Effects Using Targets for Motion Tracking . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Chapter 4 Understanding Color Correction Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

The Composer Window in Color Correction Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Activating Monitors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Displaying Tracking Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Displaying Images in Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Understanding Default Monitor Display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Configuring Image Display in Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Working with Reference Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Splitting the Image Display in Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Hiding the Video in Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Displaying 16:9 Video in Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Using the Play Loop Button in Color Correction Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Reviewing Color-Corrected Clips with the Edit Review Button . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Controlling Frame Display in the Composer Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

The Color Correction Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Working with Correction Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Understanding Relationship Color Corrections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Using the Source Clip Name Relationship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Converting Relationship Color Corrections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Working with the Group and Subdividing Tabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Displaying a Group Tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Displaying a Subdividing Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Associating Group and Subdividing Tabs with Tab Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Understanding Interaction Between Color Correction Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Working with the Enable Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Turning Controls On or Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Resetting Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Understanding Interaction Between Enable Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Using the Color Correction Tool Buttons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Customizing Color Correction Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

How Color Correction Handles Color Space and Bit Depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Adding Comments to Color Correction Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Working with Color Correction Effect Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Understanding How Color Correction Effect Templates Save Settings. . . . . . 155

Using Automatic Effect Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Saving a Color Correction Effect Template to a Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Saving a Color Correction Effect Template to a Bucket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Clearing Color Correction Effect Templates from Buckets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Applying Color Correction Effect Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Working with Color Correction Effect Templates in the Effect Palette. . . . . . . 160

Displaying Color Correction Information in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Chapter 5 Performing Color Corrections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

General Workflow for Making Color Corrections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Using Automatic Color Corrections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Understanding Automatic Color Correction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Setting AutoCorrect Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Adjusting Contrast and Balance Automatically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Using the Remove Color Cast Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Considerations When Using Automatic Color Correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Using the Color Match Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Making a Correction with the Color Match Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Selecting Match Type Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Understanding NaturalMatch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Color Match Example Using NaturalMatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Saving Custom Colors to a Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Getting RGB Information Using the Color Match Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

The HSL (Hue, Saturation, Luminance) Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Working with the Controls Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Making Corrections Using the Controls Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Using the HSL Sliders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

Controls Tab Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Working with the Hue Offsets Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Understanding ChromaWheel Color Wheels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Making Corrections Using the Hue Offsets Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Examples of Hue Offsets Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Working with the Luma Ranges Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Understanding the Luma Ranges Graph. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Adjusting Luminance Ranges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Manipulating Luminance Range Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Examples of Three-Tone Previews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

The Channels Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Making Corrections Using the Channels Tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Using the Channel Blending Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Considerations When Working with Color Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Examples of Channel Blending Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

The Levels Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Understanding Input and Output Levels Adjustments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

Examples of Black Point Input and Output Adjustments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

Examples of Gray Point Input and Output Adjustments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Making Corrections Using the Levels Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Working with the Levels Tab Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Understanding Histograms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Using the Histogram Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Using the Text Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Understanding ChromaCurve Graphs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Using the ChromaCurve Graph in the Levels Tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Working with the Composite and Luma Tabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Examples of Levels Adjustments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

The Curves Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Making Corrections Using the Curves Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

Adjusting Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Curves and the Color Match Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Examples of Curve Adjustments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

The Secondary Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

Understanding Secondary Color Correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Secondary Color Correction Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Understanding Secondary Color Correction Vectors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Standard and Custom Vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Vector Display in Color Wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Customizing a Vector Display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Understanding the Selected Vectors Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

Selecting Vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Enabling and Disabling Vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

Resetting Vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

Adjusting Input Vector Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

Repositioning Vectors in the Color Wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Using the Input Vector Sliders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Locking Vectors While Adjusting an Input Vector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Examples of Softness Adjustments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

Using the Color Selection Buttons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Defining a Vector with the Syringe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Refining a Vector Definition with the Add to Selection and

Subtract from Selection Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Isolating the Selected Vector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

Adjusting Output Vector Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

Using the Color Match Control for Secondary Corrections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Making a Secondary Correction with the Color Match Control and the Syringe

253

Making a Secondary Color Correction with the Color Match Control Only 253

Inverting a Vector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Examples of Inverted and Isolated Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Understanding How Multiple Vectors Interact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Working with the Waveform Monitors and the Vectorscope Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Using the Waveform and Vectorscope Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Using the Color Correction Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

When to Use the Color Correction Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

Applying a Color Correction Effect from the Color Correction Tool . . . . . . . . . 268

Chapter 6 Managing Color-Corrected Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Updating Color-Corrected Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Merging Color-Corrected Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Using the Merge Correction Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Color Correction Merging Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Flattening Color-Corrected Sequences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Removing Color Corrections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Chapter 7 Color Correction Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Guiding Principles for Color Correction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Goals of Color Correction: Restoration and Adaptation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Restoring the Original Look. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Adapting the Original Look . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Stages of Color Correction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Correcting Tonal Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282

Neutralizing Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

Achieving Shot-to-Shot Consistency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

Achieving a Final Look . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Examples of Color Correction Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Example 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Example 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Example 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Chapter 8 Spot Color Correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

Using the Spot Color Correction Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

Making Corrections Using the Spot Color Correction Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Using Paint Effect Modes for Color Adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Chapter 9 Safe Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Overview of Safe Color Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Understanding Safe Color Settings Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

Understanding the Graphical View of Safe Color Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Understanding Safe Color Warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Safe Color Warnings in the Color Match Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

Making Adjustments to Achieve Safe Color Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

Safe Color Limits with Waveform and Vectorscope Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

Tables

Offline Formats for HD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Graphics Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Media Composer Adrenaline Default Folder and File Locations (Windows). . . . . . . 46

Media Composer Adrenaline Default Folder and File Locations (Macintosh) . . . . . . 46

Symphony Nitris Default Folder and File Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Options for Transferring Files Between Windows Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Options for Transferring Files Between Macintosh and Windows Systems . . . . . . . 49

Offline Formats for HD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Choices for Modifying Sequences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Effects and Effect Parameters for Tracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Tracking Window Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Options for Enabling Tracking in the Effect Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Multiple Tracker Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Tracker Timeline Display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Tracking Data Point Range Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Source Menu Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Relationship Color Correction Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Correction Mode Settings Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

AutoCorrect Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Automatic Color Correction Buttons in the Curves Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

HSL Group (Controls Tab) Match Type Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

HSL Group (Hue Offsets Tab) Match Type Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Channels Tab Match Type Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Levels Tab Match Type Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Curves Tab Match Type Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Secondary Tab Match Type Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Brightness Subdividing Tabs for the HSL Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Controls Tab Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

ChromaWheel Crosshair Pointers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Component Type Options in the Channels Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Secondary Color Correction Vector Display Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Input Vector Sliders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

Waveform and Vectorscope Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Safe Color Settings Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

Safe Color Limits in Waveform Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

Using This Guide

Congratulations on your purchase of an Avid® editing application. You can use your application to create broadcast-quality output incorporating every possible production element from full-speed, high-resolution footage, to multimedia artwork and animation, to computer-generated effects and titling.

This guide contains the task-oriented instructions, conceptual information, and reference material you need to use the conform and finishing features of your Avid Symphony

Nitris stabilization parameters, and Symphony Nitris color correction.

This guide is intended for all users who need information for the conform and finishing processes.

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.

system. These features include project transfer, HD support, tracking and

™

Using This Guide

Symbols and Conventions

Avid documentation uses the following symbols and conventions:

Symbol or Convention Meaning or Action

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

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

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.

Courier Bold font identifies text that you type.

mouse action. For example, Ctrl+drag.

If You Need Help

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

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

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

they ship with your application and are also available online.

- If the latest information for your Avid product is provided as a ReadMe file, it is

supplied in your Avid application folder as a PDF document (ReadMe.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.

If You Need Help

Related Information

The following documents provide more information about Symphony Nitris:

• Avid Symphony Basics Guide

• Avid Symphony Nitris Advanced Guide

• Avid Symphony Nitris Advanced Effects Guide

• Using the Avid Nitris

These documents are available in PDF form on the Avid Symphony Nitris Online Library CD-ROM. The Online Library includes a Master Glossary of all specialized terminology used in the documentation for Avid products.

For the latest product information, see the Avid Knowledge Base: www.avid.com/support

All product information is included in the Help system, which you can access from the Symphony Nitris application’s Help menu.

Using This Guide

Accessing the Online Library

The Avid Symphony Nitris Online Library CD-ROM contains multimedia presentations and all the product documentation in PDF format. You can access the tutorial and the library from the Online Library CD-ROM or from the Help menu.

You will need Adobe® Acrobat® Reader® to view the documentation online. You can download the latest version from the Adobe web site. The effects guide requires the Apple QuickTime of QuickTime from the Apple Web site.

To access the online library from the Online Library CD-ROM:

1. Insert the Online Library CD-ROM into the drive.

2. Double-click the Mainmenu file.

To access the online library from the Help:

1. Insert the Online Library CD-ROM into the drive.

2. In your Avid application, select Help > Online Library.

application to view the QuickTime movies. You can download the latest version

How to Order Documentation

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

Avid Educational Services

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

Section 1

Conforming and Mastering

The following chapters contain information to help you conform and master your project:

• Conforming and Transferring Projects

• Working with HD Media

Chapter 1

Conforming and Transferring Projects

Avid offers a range of editing applications for editing film, video, and audio. Within the Avid family of editing and finishing products, you can work at the system most appropriate for your task. When you are ready for the next step in the process, you can easily move your work to another system. For example, you might start your project on a Media Composer Adrenaline are ready for finishing. You can also send audio media to a Digidesign and edit the finished audio into the final sequence.

The following sections contain information about transferring and conforming projects.

• Compatibility Between Applications

• Conforming Workflow

• Conforming Sequences Created with HDV Media

• Conforming Sequences with Color Correction

• Transferring Project and Media Files

™

offline system and then move it to a Symphony Nitris online system when you

Pro Tools® system

Compatibility Between Applications

Avid editing products are designed so you can easily move projects and media from one system to another and preserve your edits and effects. In a typical offline-to-online workflow, you create a program on one Avid editing system—choosing the footage, making edits, adding effects—and then transfer your program to another Avid system for final finishing. This re-creation of the offline project on an online system is called conforming, and Avid’s solution is called Total Conform. Finishing might involve recapturing in a final resolution, making color corrections, adjusting effects, and outputting the final master.

Chapter 1 Conforming and Transferring Projects

Alternatively, you can use the same media for offline and online editing. You can access the media in several ways, such as sharing media in an Avid Unity transferring removable drives from one system to another. The clips and sequences automatically link to the media, and you can complete the final finishing.

Specific information for transferring projects to Avid DS is contained in the Avid DS Conform Guide, which is available from the Avid DS Support Center or the Avid Customer

Support Knowledge Base. To access the Knowledge Base, go to

www.avid.com/onlinesupport.

If you are moving from one Avid editing product to another in the current release, or from a product in a previous release to a product in the current release, you can move project files and media without losing any of your work.

However, when you move projects from a product in the current release to a product in the previous release, some effects that have been created with features that are new for a particular release do not appear, or appear as unknown effects.

All capturing into Symphony Nitris is done through the Avid Nitris, which does not contain a 1394 connection. DV 25 and DV 50 sources can be captured through a baseband connection to either the SDI or analog inputs on the Avid Nitris (Symphony Nitris does not support capture of DVCPRO HD through a baseband connection). Alternatively, another Avid product such as Avid Xpress capture native DV 25, DV 50, or DVCPRO HD media over IEEE-1394. You can then share, play, edit, and render the media within Symphony Nitris. You can also transcode to these resolutions; available resolutions depend on the format of the source media.

Pro or Media Composer Adrenaline HD can be used to

™

workgroup environment, or

Conforming Workflow

The following sections provide information to help you transfer projects from one Avid editing system to another and conform the sequence to create one or more finished masters. These steps are based on an offline-to-online workflow that uses Symphony Nitris as the online system.

• Preparing for the Online Session

• Step 1: Transfer Files

• Step 2: Open the Project

• Step 3: Measure the Video Signal

• Step 4: Recapture Media

• Step 5: Import and Lay in the Final Audio Mix

• Step 6: Batch Import Graphics

Conforming Workflow

• Step 7: Re-create Title Media

• Step 8: Refine Effects and Perform Color Correction

• Step 9: Render Effects as Needed

• Step 10: Create the Final Masters

For specific information about HD workflows, see “Working with HD Media” on page 53. For specific information about film-based workflows, see “Working in a Film Project” in the Help.

If you are transferring projects and media but not performing an online edit, refer to

“Transferring Project and Media Files” on page 43.

Preparing for the Online Session

If possible, work with the offline editor to plan the online edit. Planning the online edit makes the online session easier and more efficient.

Review the following information before you begin the online session.

Delivery Requirements for Final Masters

The requirements for your final masters determine factors such as the project type used during the offline edit. Ideally, the offline edit is done with the online edit in mind.

The most important delivery requirements are the formats and frame rates. A broadcast network might require a range of formats: NTSC, PAL, and HD, at 4:3 and 16:9. Avid’s Universal Mastering provides you with the ability to output multiple versions from the same source file—see “Step 10: Create the Final Masters” on page 39. Make sure that the offline edit is done at the same frame rate, or a compatible frame rate, as the online edit.

If you are delivering an HD project, and the offline will be done in SD, consider how the SD media will be downconverted. If the project requires complex effects, use an anamorphic downconvert, rather than center-cut or letterbox, to reduce the adjustments required in the final conform.

Chapter 1 Conforming and Transferring Projects

Offline Formats for HD

If your project requires final mastering in HD, use the corresponding SD project for offline editing, as listed in the following table.

Offline Formats for HD

HD Online SD Offline

720p/23.976 23.976p NTSC

720p/59.94 30i NTSC

1080p/23.976 23.976p NTSC or 24p NTSC

1080p/24 24p NTSC or 24p PAL

1080p/25 25p PAL

1080p/29.97 30i NTSC

1080i/50 25i PAL

1080i/59.94 30i NTSC

a. 24p NTSC sequences require additional conversion. See “Converting a 24p NTSC

Sequence to 1080p/23.976” on page 67.

When you start the online session, you can create a new project in the final format, or use the original project and change the project format (see “Changing the Project Format” on

page 62).

File Transfer

Before you begin moving project files between Avid editing applications, consider the following.

• What files will you transfer? Determine if you need to transfer project information,

• How will you transfer the files? Determine the most appropriate method for

video media, audio media, or all three. See “Step 1: Transfer Files” on page 30.

transferring your project files. See “Devices and Methods for Transferring Files” on

page 47.

System Compatibility

Make sure that files transfer correctly between editing systems, and that both systems include the necessary applications. Consider the following:

• Frame rates: Make sure both editing systems support the same frame rates. For

example, some offline systems support 24p projects and some do not. You might require a 24p project to deliver multiple output formats.

• File naming: To make it easier to move files between products and across platforms,

use the following guidelines when naming files:

- Do not use the following characters in project, bin, or other file names:

/\:*?”<>| The Windows

substitutes other characters, possibly making the file name unrecognizable.

Conforming Workflow

system does not recognize these characters in file names and

You can use these characters in bin names if you are sharing bins between Symphony Nitris, Media Composer, Avid Xpress, or NewsCutter

products. You cannot use these characters in

bins you share with Avid DS or Pro Tools.

- Do not add spaces at the beginning or end of a file name. The Windows system

displays such files but might be unable to open them.

- Do not use a period at the end of a file name. The Windows system displays such

files but might be unable to open them.

- On Macintosh

systems, beginning with v7.2, you can enable a setting in the Avid application that prevents you from using restricted characters in file names. This setting automatically adds the correct file name extensions to files for your project. The Use Windows Compatible File Names setting in the General Settings dialog box is selected by default. With this setting selected, the file name extension .avp is added to project files and .avb is added to bin files when they are saved. These file name extensions are also attached to existing files.

• Title fonts: If the project includes titles and you are moving between Macintosh and

Windows systems, make sure you have the same font with exactly the same name (preferably from the same supplier) on both the Macintosh and Windows systems. Check the font carefully because the same font can have slightly different names. For example, Times New Roman on the Macintosh system is named Times New Roman Regular on the Windows system.

If you open a title on the online system that does not have a matching font, a dialog box opens that allows you to substitute the font in the title with a font that exists on your system.

For best results, use OpenType

fonts, which reduce problems when transferring

projects from one platform to another.

Chapter 1 Conforming and Transferring Projects

• AV X™ plug-ins: If your project contains AVX plug-in effects and you are moving

across platforms, make sure the same plug-ins are available on both the Macintosh and Windows systems. If the same AVX plug-in effect is not available, you can mix down or render the effect to a high-quality resolution and then transfer it using an OMFI or an AAF file. However, you cannot change the parameters of the effect.

Preparing Graphics

The most critical step when preparing graphics for online is to make sure that the elements you are going to import are created correctly. The following table summarizes various requirements.

Graphics Requirements

Aspect Requirement Notes

Frame size (4:3)

Frame size (16:9)

Alpha channel White foreground

Color mode RGB

File format Various The Avid application accepts many file formats for input.

Square pixels: 648 x 486 (NTSC) 640 x480 (NTSC DV) 768 x 576 (PAL)

Square pixels: 864 x 486 (NTSC anamorphic) 1024 x 576 (PAL anamorphic) 1280 x 720 (HD) 1920 x 1080 (HD)

(transparent), black background (opaque)

ITU-R 601 ITU-R 709

These are the preferred sizes for NTSC and PAL. 720 x 540 can also be used, in some situations, for both NTSC and PAL. These are stored by the application as non-square pixels. For more information, see “Preparing Graphics Files for Import” in the Help.

Preferred sizes. SD media is stored by the application as non-square pixels.

This is the standard used by graphics, animation, and compositing packages. The graphics need to have the alpha channel inverted on import.

Other formats, including CMYK, can cause import errors. ITU-R 601 is used for SD and ITU-R 709 is used for HD. In HD projects, the Avid application automatically converts the media.

TIFF (.tif) and PICT (.pct) are commonly used formats. See “Import Specifications for Supported Graphics File Formats” in the Help.

Conforming Workflow

Graphics Requirements (Continued)

Aspect Requirement Notes

File field order Odd (Upper field first)

Preparing Effects

In general, effects from older systems are automatically conformed by newer systems. However, be aware of the following issues:

• If you’re working in an offline SD project with complex effects and you plan to conform as HD, the media should be downconverted anamorphically. Media downconverted as 4:3 or letterbox causes problems when you conform effects such as picture-in-picture.

• If you are conforming a sequence that includes effects created with Avid FX, mix down or render the effects to a high-quality resolution on the offline system and then transfer them using an OMFI or an AAF file. You cannot adjust an Avid FX effect on a Symphony Nitris system.

Even (Lower field first)

For interlaced media, the Avid application uses the following order:

• NTSC (601 and DV): lower field first

• PAL 601: upper field first

• PAL DV: lower field first

• HD Interlaced: upper field first If the field order of the graphic is not correct, select the

field order of the graphic during import and the application reverses the fields appropriately.

Field order does not apply to progressive media. See “Field Ordering in Graphic Imports and Exports” in the Help.

• Wipes that include borders that were created in Media Composer Adrenaline v2.2.x or earlier, or Avid Xpress Pro v5.2.x or earlier do not conform precisely. In these versions, borders for the wipes end on screen; in Symphony Nitris borders end off screen.

Chapter 1 Conforming and Transferring Projects

Preparing Titles

You have the option to save titles in multiple aspect ratios. If you’re working with anamorphically downconverted media, save the title as 16:9. After opening the sequence in an HD project, re-create title media (see “Step 7: Re-create Title Media” on page 35). This method lets you correctly create titles that fit in the 4:3 center cut or that extend beyond the center cut.

If you’re working with media downconverted to center cut or letterbox, save the title as 4:3. In this case the titles will appear centered, within the 4:3 center cut.

Preparing Audio

If you are working in 23.976p, 24p, or 25p projects, you can output your project in both NTSC and PAL video formats, and in both 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios. You need to save a title at each aspect ratio you need for your output requirements, but video format conversion is handled automatically by your system’s hardware. For more information, see “Saving Multiple Format Titles” in the Help.

Your project might involve audio that is exported from the offline system, sweetened in an audio application such as Pro Tools, and imported into the online system (see “Step 5:

Import and Lay in the Final Audio Mix” on page 34).

If you are sharing files with Pro Tools, you can use the WAVE or AIFF-C format. Pro Tools v6.9 or later also supports MXF files For more information, see “Transferring Audio Files”

on page 43.

DigiTranslator™ v2.0 is required on the Pro Tools system for import and export of OMF and AAF files.

If you are sharing files between Macintosh and Windows systems, avoid using Sound Designer II, which is a Macintosh format. For more information, see “Transferring Sound

Designer II Audio Files from Macintosh Systems” on page 44.

Step 1: Transfer Files

There are several different methods for transferring project files and media files, depending on the requirements of your project.

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Pinnacle Systems Symphony Nitris - 1.5, Symphony Nitris - 1.0 User Manual

Contents

Tables

Using This Guide

Symbols and Conventions

If You Need Help

Related Information

Accessing the Online Library

How to Order Documentation

Avid Educational Services

Conforming and Mastering

Conforming and Transferring Projects

Compatibility Between Applications

Conforming Workflow

Preparing for the Online Session

Delivery Requirements for Final Masters

Offline Formats for HD

File Transfer

System Compatibility

Preparing Graphics

Preparing Effects

Preparing Titles

Preparing Audio

Step 1: Transfer Files