Pinnacle Systems Xpress - 4.0 Quick Start Guide

Avid Xpress

Getting Started Guide

tools for storytellers®

Avid Xpress Getting Started Guide • Part 0130-04549-01 Rev. A • August 2000

Chapter 1 Introduction

Using the Tutorial Sections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

What You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Turning on Your Equipment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Installing the Tutorial Files (Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Installing the Tutorial Files (Macintosh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Starting the Avid System (Windows). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Starting the Avid System (Macintosh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Electronic Licensing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

How to Proceed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Using Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Setting Up Your Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Getting Help for Windows and Dialog Boxes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Getting Help for Screen Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Keeping Help Available (Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Restoring Help from the Taskbar (Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Resizing the Application (Windows). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Using Alt+Tab (Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Finding Information Within the Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Using the Contents List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Using the Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Using the Search Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Using the Glossary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Printing Help Topics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Using Online Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Chapter 2 About Avid Xpress

Video Editing with Avid Xpress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Avid Xpress Essentials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Subclips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Your Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Bins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Your Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

The Attic Folder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

The Avid Xpress File System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Chapter 3 Starting a Project

About Avid Projects and Avid Users Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Using the Bins Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

About Trash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Using the Settings Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Tutorial: Starting a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Starting the Application (Windows). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Starting the Application (Macintosh). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Opening a Project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Creating a User . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Selecting a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Chapter 4 Digitizing

Selecting Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

About the Digitize Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

About the Audio Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

About the Video Input Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Digitizing Preparations Check List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

About Digitizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Digitizing and Logging at the Same Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Batch Digitizing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Redigitizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Chapter 5 Getting Ready to Edit

About Bin Views. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Controlling Playback. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Using Position Bars and Position Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Using Buttons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Play Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Step Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Using the Tool Palette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Using the Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

J-K-L Keys (Three-Button Play) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Home, End, and Arrow Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Using the Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Stepping with the Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Shuttling with the Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Marking IN and OUT Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Creating Subclips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Tutorial: Getting Ready to Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Viewing Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Using Text View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Using Frame View (Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Using Frame View (Macintosh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Playing Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Playing Clips in a Source Pop-up Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Controlling Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Marking Edit Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Marking the planing ms Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Marking the ducks Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Marking the draw knife cu Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Using Timecode to Find a Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Using Frame Offset. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Subclipping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Clearing IN Points and OUT Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Closing the Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Ending the Session. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Chapter 6 Editing a Rough Cut

Viewing Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Navigating in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Using the Position Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Using the Scroll Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Displaying More or Less Detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Using the Track Selector Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Selecting Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Monitoring Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Monitoring Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Tutorial: Rough Cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Making the First Edit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Using Digital Audio Scrub to Locate a Specific

Frame of Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Splicing an Audio Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Playing a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Confirming the Duration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Splicing Video into the Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Splicing a Clip in a Pop-up Monitor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Playing IN to OUT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Using the Go to OUT Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Moving to the Head and Tail of a Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Using the Splice-in Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Splicing a Clip into the Middle of a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Undoing an Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Using the I/O (IN Point / OUT Point) Tracking Display . . . . . 107

Chapter 7 Refining the Edit

Using Segment Mode to Edit in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Editing in Segment Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Distinguishing Between Two Types of Editing Buttons . . . . . 110

Basic Trim Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Entering Trim Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Exiting Trim Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Selecting Between Trim Sides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Performing a Basic Trim. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Using the Command Palette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Audio Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Adjusting Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Tutorial: Refining Edits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Overwriting Clips into a Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Storyboarding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Marking Clips for Storyboarding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Storyboard Editing the Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Rearranging Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Overwriting with the Three-Point Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Changing the Order of Clips in a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Removing Footage from a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Removing Footage and Closing the Resulting Gap . . . . . . . . . 128

Removing Footage and Retaining the Resulting Gap . . . . . . . 129

Trimming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Adjusting Both Sides of a Transition

(Dual-Roller Trimming) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Using Dual Rollers to Trim the Outgoing Clip. . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Trimming the pan lumber Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Single-Roller Trimming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Adding Synced Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Working with Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Adjusting Audio Level. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Adjusting Audio Pan (Balance) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Chapter 8 Adding Effects

Effects Editing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Displaying the Effect Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Effect Categories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Effect Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Transition Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Segment Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Applying Effects to a Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Working in Effect Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Rendering an Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Tutorial: Adding Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Adding Transition Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Adding a Dissolve Effect (Fade-In) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Dissolving Between Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Creating a Series of Dissolves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Creating Audio Dissolves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Adding a Fade-to-Black Effect Within the Sequence. . . . . . . . 150

Adding a Picture-in-Picture Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Using the Second Video Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Creating the Picture-in-Picture Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Repositioning the Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Adjusting a Parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Adding Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Adding Background Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Rendering the Effect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Screening the Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Chapter 9 Creating Titles

Creating New Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Understanding the Title Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Working with Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Text Formatting Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Selecting Colors and Setting Transparency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Adjusting the Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Editing a Title into a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Tutorial: Creating Titles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Adding a Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Creating a New Title. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Repositioning Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Changing Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Adding a Shadow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Saving a Title. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Editing the Title into the Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Adding Rolling Credits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Editing an Existing Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Adding a Video Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Viewing the Creation Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Splicing the Title into a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Deleting Excess Footage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Closing the Title Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Chapter 10 Generating Output

Output Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Preparing for Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Digital Cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

About Exporting Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Preparing to Export a Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Tutorial: Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Recording a Digital Cut to Tape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Chapter 11 Backing Up

About Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Media Objects and Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Media Relationships. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Basic Media Tool Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Freeing Storage Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Consolidating Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

About the Consolidate Feature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Backing Up Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Backing Up Project Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Tutorial: Backing Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Consolidating the Boat Shop Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Saving Your Work on a Drive or Floppy Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Restoring from a Backup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Quitting and Shutting Down. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Index

Figures

Figure 7-1 Command Palette Tabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Tables

Table 6-1 Starting the Tutorial: Rough Cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Table 7-1 Starting the Tutorial: Refining Edits . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Table 7-2 Mark Points for Tutorial Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Table 8-1 Starting the Tutorial: Adding Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Table 9-1 Starting the Tutorial: Creating Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Table 10-1 Starting the Tutorial: Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Tab l e 11 -1 Media Objects and Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Tab l e 11 -2 Starting the Tutorial: Backing Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

This chapter sets you up to use this guide and explains how to work through the tutorial sections that teach you the basics of your Avid system. This chapter contains the following sections:

• Using the Tutorial Sections

• What You Need

• Turning on Your Equipment

• Installing the Tutorial Files (Windows)

• Installing the Tutorial Files (Macintosh)

• Starting the Avid System (Windows)

• Starting the Avid System (Macintosh)

• Electronic Licensing

• How to Proceed

• Using Help

• Using Online Documentation

Using the Tutorial Sections

The self-paced tutorial sections included in this guide are designed as guided Avid editing sessions, using the basic features of the system. In

the tutorial sections, you’re going to edit a 1-minute sequence about a company in Amesbury, Massachusetts that makes small fishing boats called dories.

The footage for the sequence is on the Avid Xpress Tutorial CD-ROMs that came with your system. The CD-ROMs contain digitized media that is ready for you to use.

The instructions in the tutorial take you through each step of the editing process. The steps are:

• Starting a project (in Chapter 3)

• Getting ready to edit (in Chapter 5)

• Editing a rough cut (in Chapter 6)

• Refining the edit (in Chapter 7)

• Adding effects and titles to the sequence (in Chapter 8 and

Chapter 9)

• Preparing output (in Chapter 10)

• Backing up (in Chapter 11)

To complete this tutorial, you need a basic familiarity with the Windows

never used a Windows or Macintosh system, refer to the Windows or the Apple

You don’t need any previous experience with the Avid system. The terms and techniques needed for each tutorial section are in each chapter. However, it will help to read Chapter 2 of this guide before starting any of the tutorial sections. You can also use the Avid Xpress Help (see “Using Help” on page 27) and online books (see “Using

Online Documentation” on page 34) for more information.

operating system or Macintosh® computer. If you have

Macintosh manuals.

This tutorial takes approximately 4 hours. Before you begin, you need:

• An installed Avid system

• The Boat Shop media and project files on the Avid Xpress Tutorial

Depending on your level of expertise in editing on Avid systems, you can choose to work through the tutorial in either of two ways.

• If you have no experience with Avid Xpress or other Avid systems,

• If you have used other Avid systems, you might want to read

What You Need

If you have not yet set up your system, see the Avid Composer Products Setup Guide. If you need to install the Avid Xpress

software, see the Avid Xpress Release Notes.

CD-ROM

you should go through the entire tutorial.

certain chapters to understand the specific features of Avid Xpress, and complete the tutorials in those chapters. Each tutorial section is self-contained.

The Tutorial CD-ROMs packaged with your Avid system include all files necessary to complete this tutorial. They are:

• OMFI MediaFiles folder — contains the digitized files you need

for the tutorial. You need to copy these files to your external media drive.

• Avid Projects folder — contains the project and bins you need for the tutorial. You need to copy these files into \Program Files\Avid\Avid Xpress on your internal hard drive (Windows) or to your Avid drive (Macintosh).

Turning on Your Equipment

Begin your edit session by turning on the components of your Avid system. If any part of your system fails to turn on, make sure its electrical cord is plugged snugly into an appropriate electrical outlet or power strip. For more information on setting up your system, see the Avid Composer Products Setup Guide.

For information on your Windows features, such as the desktop and icons, see your Windo ws documentation.

If you fail to follow the proper sequence for starting up your system, you could damage your computer or storage drives.

Always turn on the devices in the following order:

1. Fixed-storage drives: Turn on fixed-storage drives before starting the computer. Allow 10 to 15 seconds for the drives to spin up to speed before starting your PC or Macintosh.

2. Other peripheral hardware: Turn on all other peripheral units except the PC or Macintosh. These include:

- Monitors and speakers

™

-Meridien

- Tape decks and additional autoassembly configurations

(switcher, time-base corrector, and so on) if you plan to digitize or conduct an autoassembly

- Black burst generator (to maintain proper sync between audio

and video while digitizing and editing)

3. The PC or Macintosh

Windows:

a. Turn on your PC.

The computer goes through a self-check routine, and the Windows startup screen appears.

b. Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete and log on.

I/O box

The Windows desktop appears.

Macintosh:

Press the Power On key located at the upper right corner of the keyboard.

When you start the Macintosh:

• You hear a tone that means the hardware is operational.

For information on Macintosh features, such as the desktop and icons, see your Macintosh documentation.

• The computer goes through a self-check routine. If the

Macintosh passes all of its internal logic tests, the smiling Macintosh icon appears.

• The Avid startup screen appears and the initialization process

begins.

• The Macintosh desktop appears.

Avid drive (internal)

Media

drives

(external)

To avoid system damage, do not disconnect or turn off external drives while the PC or Macintosh is on.

Installing the Tutorial Files (Windows)

The Tutorial CD-ROMs contain all the files you need for the tutorial sections of this guide. The CD-ROMs contain an NTSC version and a PAL version of the tutorial media files digitized at a 20:1 resolution. The tutorial files require two CD-ROMs for NTSC and two for PAL. The installation procedure is the same for installing either type.

Each CD-ROM has its own installation program and is installed independently of the other CD-ROM. You will need approximately 1 GB of free space available on your external media drive.

It takes approximately 30 minutes to install the media files from the CD-ROMs to the external media drive.

To install the Avid Xpress tutorial on a Windows system:

1. Insert the Avid Xpress NTSC or PAL Tutorial Disc 1 of 2 into the CD-ROM drive. The Avid Xpress Tutorial screen appears.

2. Click Installers.

3. Click Install Tutorial.

The Welcome to Avid Xpress Tutorial (NTSC or PAL) Setup dialog box appears.

4. Click Next.

The Choose Destination Location dialog box appears. This allows you to place the Boat Shop project files in the Avid Projects folder. If an Avid Projects folder is not already created, the installation will create one for you.

5. Select the destination location for the project files, and then click Next.

The Select a Drive dialog box appears. This allows you to select the drive where you want to store the media files. The media files take up approximately 1 GB. Select a drive with adequate space.

6. Click the appropriate drive, and then click Next.

- If an OMFI MediaFiles folder already exists on the drive, the

media files are copied into that folder.

- If there is no OMFI MediaFiles folder on the drive, a message

appears asking if you want to create an OMFI MediaFiles folder on the drive. Click Yes. The folder is created and the media files are copied to the external drive.

When all the media files on Disc 1 are copied to the drive, the system prompts you to insert Disc 2. The Setup Needs Another Disk dialog box appears.

7. Eject the Avid Xpress NTSC or PAL Tutorial Disc 1 of 2 from the CD-ROM drive.

8. Insert the Avid Xpress NTSC or PAL Tutorial Disc 2 of 2 into the CD-ROM drive.

9. Click OK.

The system continues to install the rest of the tutorial media files.

10. When the media files on Disc 2 are copied to the drive, a message appears telling you to reinsert Disc 1.

11. Eject the Avid Xpress NTSC or PAL Tutorial Disc 2 of 2 from the CD-ROM drive.

12. Reinsert the Avid Xpress NTSC or PAL Tutorial Disc 1 of 2 into the CD-ROM drive.

13. Click OK.

A final dialog box appears informing you that the installation is complete.

14. Click Finish, and then click Exit to close the Avid Xpress Tutorial screen.

15. The installation is complete.

Installing the Tutorial Files (Macintosh)

Each CD-ROM has its own installation program and is installed independently of the other CD-ROM. You will need approximately 1 GB of free space available on your external media drive.

It takes approximately 30 minutes to install the media files from the CD-ROMs to the external media drive.

To install the Avid Xpress tutorial on a Macintosh system:

1. Insert Xpress Tutorial Disc 1 of 2 into the CD-ROM drive. The Avid Xpress NTSC or PAL Tutorial Disc 1 icon appears on your desktop.

2. Double-click the Avid Xpress NTSC or PAL Tutorial Disc 1 icon. A window opens showing the contents of Disc 1.

Avid Xpress Install icon

3. Double-click the Xpress NTSC or PAL Install 1 icon. The Xpress NTSC or PAL Install 1 window opens.

Avid drive

Media drives

4. Click the Avid Projects icon and drag it to the Avid drive in the Drive scroll list. The tutorial project installs on your Avid drive and a message appears asking if you want to continue the installation.

5. Click Continue.

It takes approximately 20 minutes to copy the Disc 1 media files to the external drive.

6. Click the Media Files icon and drag it to any external media drive in the Drive scroll list. The drive must have approximately 1 GB of free space.

- If an OMFI MediaFiles folder already exists on the drive, the

media files are copied into the folder.

- If there is no OMFI MediaFiles folder on the drive, a message

appears asking if you want to create an OMFI MediaFiles folder on the drive. Click Yes. The folder is created and the media files are copied to the external drive.

When all the media files on Disc 1 are copied to the drive, the system prompts you to insert Disc 2.

You cannot remove Disc 1 at this time. You must quit the installation program before you can remove Disc 1 from the CD-ROM drive.

7. Click OK. The system notifies you that the installation of Disc 1 is complete.

8. Click Quit. The installation program closes.

9. Click the Xpress NTSC or PAL Tutorial Disc 1 icon and drag it to the Trash. The CD-ROM drive ejects Disc 1.

10. Insert Xpress Tutorial Disc 2 of 2 into the CD-ROM drive. The Xpress NTSC or PAL Tutorial Disc 2 icon appears on your desktop.

11. Double-click the Xpress NTSC or PAL Tutorial Disc 2 icon. A window opens showing the contents of Disc 2.

12. Double-click the Xpress NTSC or PAL Install 2 icon. The Xpress NTSC or PAL Install 2 window opens.

13. Click the Media Files icon and drag it to the same drive where you installed the Disc 1 media files. The remaining tutorial files are copied to the drive.

14. When the media files on Disc 2 are copied to the drive, a message appears telling you that the installation is complete.

15. Click Quit. The installation is complete.

Starting the Avid System (Windows)

To start Avid Xpress on a Windows system:

1. Click the Start button.

2. Point to Programs.

3. Point to the Xpress folder.

4. Click Xpress.

To start the application from the desktop, Avid recommends that you create a shortcut and place it there. For more information on making a shortcut, see your Windows documentation.

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

Starting the Avid System (Macintosh)

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

To start Avid Xpress on a Macintosh system:

1. Open the Avid drive by double-clicking the Avid drive icon.

2. Open the Xpress folder.

3. Double-click the application icon or alias. The Avid splash screen appears.

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

Electronic Licensing

To accept your Avid Xpress product license electronically:

1. Read the License Agreement, then click the Accept button or the Decline button at the bottom of the screen.

The agreement appears the first several times you start Avid Xpress. After several starts, a new button appears at the bottom of the screen.

2. If you do not want to see the license agreement again, click the

Accept and Don’t Show Again button.

A dialog box appears.

3. Enter the name of your organization in the dialog box, and click OK.

After Avid Xpress starts, the Open Project dialog box appears, as described in “Opening a Project” on page 51.

How to Proceed

The following are a few tips for taking full advantage of the Avid Xpress documentation and other resources:

• Complete the tutorial sections in this guide before starting a project.

• Begin learning about basic procedures by using the default settings. As your confidence increases, begin to explore additional procedures and settings.

• Instead of using the standard menus to find the command you need in a window, try using shortcut menus. Right-clicking (Windows) or pressing Ctrl+Shift and clicking (Macintosh) on a window brings up a context menu that shows the most frequently used commands for that window.

Using Help

• Keep the Avid Xpress Quick Reference available during editing sessions to speed the use of shortcuts and keyboard commands.

• Make a habit of reading Avid’s newsletters, mailings, and other trade publications.

• Make use of additional training resources provided by Avid whenever possible, such as classes and instructional videotapes. For more information, contact Avid at 800-867-2843.

• Check the following Avid Web site for listings of courses, schedules, and locations:

www.avid.com/services/training/training.html

You can get help and background information for tasks, windows, dialog boxes, and screen objects through your Avid Help system. Your Help system is HTML-based and operates in a Web browser. You need Version 4.5 or higher of Microsoft

system, Avid recommends Internet Explorer Version 5 or higher.

Internet Explorer. On a Macintosh

Setting Up Your Browser

You must have cookies enabled in your browser to use several capabilities of your Avid Help system. Avid does not retain personal information about you or your system other than your frequently visited Help topics.

To enable cookies:

1. Choose Internet Options from the Internet Explorer Tools menu.

2. Click the Security tab.

3. Click the Custom Level button.

4. Scroll down to the Cookies section.

5. Make sure the Enable button is selected.

6. Click OK, and then click OK again.

Getting Help for Windows and Dialog Boxes

The Help system provides you with context-sensitive Help for windows and dialog boxes, such as tools and settings.

To get Help for windows and dialog boxes:

1. Make sure the Avid application is active.

2. Position the mouse pointer anywhere in the window or dialog box for which you want help.

3. Press the F1 key (Windows) or the Help key (Macintosh) on the keyboard.

If there is no information about a window or dialog box, a Navigation Canceled message appears in the browser. Open the Help and use the Search or Index functions to look for information on that window or dialog box.

Getting Help for Screen Objects

You can use What’s This? Help to find out about buttons and other screen objects.

To get help for screen objects:

1. Do one of the following:

- (Windows) Using the right mouse button, click the screen

object (for example, a button).

- (Macintosh) Ctrl+Shift+click the screen object (for example, a

button).

A pop-up menu appears.

2. Choose What’s This? from the pop-up menu.

A browser window opens that explains how you use the item. Many windows include a link (marked by underlined text) to more information.

(Windows only) For some dialog boxes, such as Import and Print, use the

Question Mark button to access What’s This? Help.

Keeping Help Available (Windows)

When you access a Help topic and then return to the Avid application, the Help browser disappears behind the Avid system.

To keep Help available, you can use one of the methods in the following topics:

• Restoring Help from the Taskbar (Windows)

• Resizing the Application (Windows)

• Using Alt+Tab (Windows)

• Printing Help Topics

Restoring Help from the Taskbar (Windows)

You can restore the Help from the taskbar at the bottom of the screen. All your active applications are represented by buttons on the taskbar.

To restore Help, click the browser button on the taskbar, and the Help reappears.

If you can’t see the taskbar, you might have set a property that hides it.

To keep the taskbar on top:

1. Right-click in an area of the taskbar where there are no buttons.

2. Choose Properties from the pop-up menu.

The Taskbar Properties dialog box appears.

3. Select Always on top.

4. Deselect Auto hide.

5. Click OK.

The taskbar remains visible at all times.

If you want the taskbar to appear only when you pass the pointer over the bottom of the screen, select Auto hide along with Always on top.

Resizing the Application (Windows)

To resize the application and leave Help available:

1. With Help active, drag the purple Help title bar to the top of the screen.

2. Click in the Avid application.

The Help browser disappears behind the Avid system.

3. Click the Restore button in the top right corner of the application.

The application shrinks slightly and reveals the Help browser behind it.

This allows you to click back and forth between the application and the Help browser without significantly reducing the size of the Avid application.

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