Pinnacle Systems Xpress DV - 3.5 Quick Start Guide

Avid Xpress® DV

Getting Started Guide

Product specifications are subject to change without notice and do not represent a commitment on the part of Avid Technology, Inc. The software described in this document is furnished under a license agreement. You can obtain a copy of that license by visiting Avid's Web site at www.avid.com. The terms of that license are also available in the product in the same directory as the software. The software may not be reverse assembled and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of the license agreement. It is against the law to copy the software on any medium except as specifically allowed in the license agreement. Avid products or portions thereof are protected by one or more of the following United States patents: 4,746,994; 4,970,663; 5,045,940; 5,063,448; 5,077,604; 5,245,432; 5,267,351; 5,309,528; 5,325,200; 5,355,450; 5,396,594; 5,440,348; 5,452,378; 5,467,288; 5,513,375; 5,528,310; 5,557,423; 5,568,275; 5,577,190; 5,583,496; 5,584,006; 5,627,765; 5,634,020; 5,640,601; 5,644,364; 5,654,737; 5,701,404; 5,715,018; 5,719,570; 5,724,605; 5,726,717; 5,729,673; 5,731,819; 5,745,637; 5,752,029; 5,754,180; 5,754,851; 5,781,188; 5,799,150; 5,812,216; 5,828,678; 5,842,014; 5,852,435; 5,883,670; 5,889,532; 5,892,507; 5,905,841; 5,912,675; 5,929,836; 5,929,942; 5,930,445; 5,930,797; 5,946,445; 5,966,134; 5,977,982; 5,986,584; 5,987,501; 5,995,079; 5,995,115; 5,999,190; 5,999,406; 6,009,507; 6,011,562; 6,014,150; 6,016,152; 6,016,380; 6,018,337; 6,023,531; 6,023,703; 6,031,529; 6,035,367; 6,038,573; 6,052,508; 6,058,236; 6,061,758; 6,072,796; 6,084,569; 6,091,422; 6,091,778; 6,105,083; 6,118,444; 6,128,001; 6,128,681; 6,130,676; 6,134,379; 6,134,607; 6,137,919; 6,141,007; 6,141,691; 6,154,221; 6,157,929; 6,160,548; 6,161,115; 6,167,404; 6,174,206; 6,192,388; 6,198,477; 6,201,531; 6,208,357; 6,211,869; 6,212,197; 6,215,485; 6,223,211; 6,226,005; 6,226,038; 6,229,576; 6,239,815; 6,249,280; 6,269,195; 6,271,829; 6,301,105; 6,310,621; 6,314,403; 6,317,142; 6,317,153; 6,317,158; 6,317,515; 6,327,253; 6,330,369; 6,336,093; 6,337,880; 6,339,531; 6,351,557; 6,353,437; 6,353,862; 6,357,047; 6,374,336; D352,278; D372,478; D373,778; D392,267; D392,268; D392,269; D395,291; D396,853; D398,912. Additional U.S. and foreign patents pending. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, for any purpose without the express written permission of Avid Technology, Inc.

The following disclaimer is required by Apple Computer, Inc.

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

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

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

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

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

The following disclaimer is required by the Independent JPEG Group:

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

The following disclaimer is required by Paradigm Matrix:

Portions of this software licensed from Paradigm Matrix.

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

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

The following disclaimer is required by Videomedia, Inc.:

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

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

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

The following disclaimer is required by Ultimatte Corporation:

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

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

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

Attn. Government User(s). Restricted Rights Legend

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

Trademarks

888 I/O, AirPlay, AirSPACE, AirSPACE HD, AniMatte, AudioSuite, AudioVision, AutoSync, Avid, AVIDdrive, AVIDdrive Towers, AvidNet, AVIDstripe, Avid Unity, Avid Xpress, AVX, CamCutter, DAE, D-Fi, D-fx, Digidesign, Digidesign Audio Engine, Digidesign Intelligent Noise Reduction, DINR, D-Verb, Equinox, ExpertRender, FieldPak, Film Composer, FilmScribe, HIIP, HyperSPACE, HyperSPACE HDCAM, IllusionFX, Image Independence, Intraframe, iS9, iS18, iS23, iS36, Lo-Fi, Magic Mask, make manage move | media, Marquee, Matador, Maxim, MCXpress, Media Composer, MediaDock, MediaDock Shuttle, Media Fusion, Media Illusion, MediaLog, Media Reader, Media Recorder, MEDIArray, MediaShare, Meridien, MetaSync, NaturalMatch, NetReview, NewsCutter, OMF, OMF Interchange, OMM, Open Media Framework, Open Media Management, ProEncode, Pro Tools, QuietDrive, Recti-Fi, rS9, rS18, Sci-Fi, Softimage, Sound Designer II, SPACE, SPACEShift, Symphony, Trilligent, UnityRAID, Vari-Fi, Video Slave Driver, and VideoSPACE are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.

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Adaptec is a trademark of Adaptec, Inc., which may be registered in some jurisdictions. Adobe, Acrobat, and Reader are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. Apple, AppleScript, DVD Studio Pro, FireWire, iMac, Mac, Macintosh, PowerBook, and Power Macintosh are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Betacam and i.LINK are registered trademarks of Sony Corporation. Cinepak is a trademark of Digital Origin, Inc. DVDit! is a trademark of Sonic Solutions. IEEE is a registered trademark of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. Matrox is a registered trademark of Matrox Graphics Inc. and/or Matrox Electronic Systems Ltd. in the United States, Canada, and/or other countries. Microsoft, MS-DOS, NetShow, and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. QuickTime and the QuickTime logo are trademarks used under license from Apple Computer, Inc. The QuickTime logo is registered in the U.S. and other countries. TI is a trademark of Texas Instruments. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

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. Windhorse — Courtesy of Paul Wagner Productions.

Avid Xpress DV Getting Started Guide • Part 0130-05340-01 • June 2002

Using This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Who Should Use This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

About This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Symbols and Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

If You Need Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Related Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

If You Have Documentation Comments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

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

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

Chapter 1 Setting Up Your Avid Xpress DV System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Determining Supported Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Purchasing the Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Check List for Setting Up Your System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Turning On Your Equipment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Installing Boards Purchased Separately. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Installing the 1394 Capture Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Installing the PCI SCSI Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Connecting the Application Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Preparing Your Drives (Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Overview of Partitioning Basic Drives (Windows Only) . . . . . . . . . . 28

Supported File Systems (Windows Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Checking Your Internal Drives (Windows Only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Creating Primary Partitions and Formatting (Windows Only) . . . . . 32

Testing Drives (Windows Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Preparing Your Drives (Macintosh). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Setting Your Screen Resolution (Windows Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Chapter 2 Installing Avid Software and Editing Equipment . . . . . . . . . . 39

Installing Avid Xpress DV Software (Windows). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Installing Avid Xpress DV Software and All

Components (Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Performing a Custom Installation (Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Modifying, Repairing, or Removing Avid

Applications (Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Installing EDL Manager (Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Installing the PowerPack Applications (Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Installing Avid Log Exchange (Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Installing Avid FilmScribe (Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Installing Avid IllusionFX (Windows). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Installing the Avid Xpress DV Tutorial Files (Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Installing Avid Xpress DV Software (Macintosh). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Installing Avid Xpress DV Software and All

Components (Macintosh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Performing a Custom Installation (Macintosh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Removing Avid Applications (Macintosh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Installing EDL Manager (for Mac OS X) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Installing EDL Manager (for Macintosh Version 9.2) . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Installing the PowerPack Applications (Macintosh). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Installing Avid Log Exchange (Macintosh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Installing Avid FilmScribe (Macintosh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Installing Avid IllusionFX (Macintosh). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Installing the Avid Xpress DV Tutorial Files (Macintosh) . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Creating an Emergency Repair Floppy Disk (Windows Only). . . . . . . . . 61

Connecting the Editing Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

1394 Cable Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Connecting a 1394 Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Connecting a Computer Without a Client Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Connecting a Client Monitor Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Connecting a Client Monitor over a 1394 Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Audio and Video Sync Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Connecting a Client Monitor to an Analog Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Controlling an Analog Video Deck (Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Controlling an Analog Video Deck (Macintosh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Connecting a VTR Emulator (Windows Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Assigning a Driver to Your Digital Device (Windows Only) . . . . . . . . . . 77

Turning Off Your Equipment (Windows). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Turning Off Your Equipment (Macintosh). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Chapter 3 About Avid Xpress DV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

About DV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Nonlinear Editing with Avid Xpress DV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Avid Xpress DV Terms and Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Media Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Subclips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Bins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

The Attic Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

The Avid Xpress DV File System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Project Workflow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Starting a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Preparing to Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Editing a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Generating Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Chapter 4 Learning How to Use Avid Xpress DV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Using the Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Using Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Setting Up Your Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Getting Help for Windows and Dialog Boxes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Getting Help for Screen Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Keeping Help Available (Windows Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Restoring Help from the Taskbar (Windows Only). . . . . . . . . . . 98

Resizing the Application (Windows Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Using Alt+Tab to Restore Help (Windows Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Finding Information Within Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Using the Contents List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Using the Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Using the Search Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Using the Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Printing Help Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Using Online Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Tips and Other Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Chapter 5 Starting a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Starting Avid Xpress DV (Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Starting Avid Xpress DV (Macintosh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Changing Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Using User Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Creating a User Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Changing User Profiles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Selecting a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Viewing Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Using Brief View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Using Text View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Using Frame View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Using Script View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Closing the Project and Quitting the Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Chapter 6 Playing and Marking Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Exploring the Project Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

The Bins Display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

The Settings Display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

The Info Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Opening a Clip in the Source Pop-Up Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Using Toolsets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Opening Toolsets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Source/Record Editing Toolset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Displaying Tracking Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Controlling Playback. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Using the Position Bar and Position Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Controlling Playback with Playback Control Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Controlling Playback with Playback Control Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Opening and Using the Tool Palette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Opening and Tearing Off the Tool Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Displaying Button Names. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Using the Command Palette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Marking Edit Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Using the Mark IN and Mark OUT Buttons to Mark a Clip . . . . . . . 133

Using the Mark IN and Mark OUT Keys to Mark a Clip . . . . . . . . . 135

Using Timecode as Reference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Using Timecode to Find a Frame. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Playing IN to OUT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Moving an OUT Point. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Using Frame Offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Creating Subclips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Chapter 7 Creating a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Building a Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Naming the Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Using the Splice-in Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Navigating in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Splicing a Clip into the Middle of a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Undoing an Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Using the I/O (IN Point / OUT Point) Tracking Display . . . . . . . . . 145

Adding Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Using Digital Audio Scrub to Locate an Audio Frame . . . . . . . . . . 146

Splicing an Audio Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Reviewing the Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Chapter 8 Refining the Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Overwriting Clips into a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Using Storyboard Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Rearranging Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Overwriting with the Three-Point Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Changing the Order of Clips in a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Removing Footage from a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Removing Footage and Closing the Resulting Gap . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Removing Footage and Retaining the Resulting Gap . . . . . . . . . . 155

Chapter 9 Trimming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Dual-Roller Trimming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Using Dual Rollers to Trim the Outgoing Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Trimming the Windshield Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Single-Roller Trimming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Chapter 10 Adding Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Adding a Dissolve Effect (Fade In) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Dissolving Between Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Creating a Picture-in-Picture Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Repositioning the Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Adjusting Softness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Cropping the Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Adding Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Rendering the Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Creating a Freeze Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Screening the Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Chapter 11 Creating Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Creating a New Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Using Text Formatting Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Repositioning Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Changing the Color of Title Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Adding a Shadow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Changing the Color of a Shadow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Softening a Shadow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Saving a Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Editing the Title into the Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Chapter 12 Generating Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Creating Files for a DVD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Creating Files for a DVD (Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Creating Files for DVD Studio Pro (Macintosh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

Using an AppleScript to Create a DVD (Macintosh) . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Preparing the Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Exporting a QuickTime Movie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Using the QuickTime DV Codec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Exporting the Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Outputting a Digital Cut to Tape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

About Remote and Local Deck Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Changing the Timecode of the Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Configuring Your Camera or Video Deck. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Recording a Digital Cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Next Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Chapter 13 Backing Up and Deleting a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Backing Up Project Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Backing Up Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Deleting a Project Folder and Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Deleting a Project Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Deleting Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Next Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Figures

Figure 1 Application Key. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Figure 2 Computer Management Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Figure 3 Partitioning in the Computer Management Window . . . . . 33

Figure 4 Formatting the Partition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Figure 5 Disk Utility Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Figure 6 1394 Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Figure 7 Connecting a 1394 Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Figure 8 4-Pin to 6-Pin Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Figure 9 Connecting a Computer Without a Client Monitor . . . . . . 66

Figure 10 Displaying Timeline Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Figure 11 Client Monitor Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Figure 12 Connecting a Computer with a Client Monitor . . . . . . . . . 69

Figure 13 Avid Xpress DV System with Client Monitor. . . . . . . . . . . 70

Figure 14 Analog Video Deck Control Cabling (Windows) . . . . . . . . 73

Figure 15 Analog Video Deck Control Cabling (Macintosh) . . . . . . . 75

Figure 16 Connecting a VTR Emulator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Figure 17 Found New Hardware Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Figure 18 Found New Hardware Wizard Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Figure 19 Files Needed Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Figure 20 Command Palette Tabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Tables

Table 1 Check List for Setting Up Your System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Table 2 Monitor Resolutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

Table 3 Custom Installation Components (Windows). . . . . . . . . . .42

Table 4 Custom Installation Components (Macintosh). . . . . . . . . .53

Table 5 Send to DVD Dialog Box Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185

Using This Guide

Welcome to Avid Xpress® DV! This guide provides you with information about how to start using your Avid Xpress DV system. It presents instructions for setting up your system and a step-by-step tutorial for creating a short video sequence.

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.

Who Should Use This Guide

This guide is written for anyone who is familiar with a Windows® or Macintosh use this guide. If you are an experienced digital, nonlinear editor, you can use this guide to learn about basic Avid Xpress DV features and to complete the tutorial.

computer system. You do not need video editing experience to

About This Guide

This guide describes the basic features of the Avid Xpress DV system. For more information on using Avid Xpress DV, see the Avid Xpress DV User’s Guide, Help, and other guides listed in “Related Information” on

page 18.

Using This Guide

This guide has the following overall structure:

• Chapter 1 describes how to set up your Avid Xpress DV system and prepare drives on a Windows XP and a Mac

• Chapter 2 describes how to install the product software and the tutorial media.

• Chapter 3 presents the basic editing concepts and walks you through a typical workflow scenario.

• Chapter 4 details how to use the Avid Xpress DV tutorial, Help system, and documentation.

• The remaining chapters present step-by-step instructions for the most important tasks involved in editing and outputting a digital video sequence.

• Finally, a detailed Index helps you quickly locate specific topics.

Symbols and Conventions

Unless noted otherwise, the material in this document applies to the Windows XP and Mac OS X operating systems. When the text applies to a specific operating system, it is marked as follows:

OS X operating system.

• (Windows) or (Windows only) means the information applies to the Windows XP operating system.

• (Macintosh) or (Macintosh only) means the information applies to the Mac OS X operating system.

The majority of screen shots in this document were captured on a Windows XP system, but the information applies to both Windows XP and Mac OS X systems. Where differences exist, both Windows XP and Mac OS X screen shots are shown.

Symbols and Conventions

The Avid Xpress DV documentation uses the following special symbols and conventions:

1. Numbered lists, when the order of the items is important.

a. Alphabetical lists, when the order of secondary items is important.

• Bulleted lists, when the order of the items is unimportant.

- Indented dashed lists, when the order of secondary items is unimportant.

t One arrow indicates a single-step procedure. Multiple arrows in a list

indicate that you perform one of the actions listed.

The k symbol refers to the Apple or Command key. Press and hold the Command key and another key to perform a keyboard shortcut.

Courier Bold font identifies text that you type.

Look here in the margin for tips.

In the margin, you will find tips that help you perform tasks more easily and efficiently.

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 guide or on the unit itself when handling electrical equipment.

Using This Guide

If You Need Help

If you are having trouble using Avid Xpress DV:

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

2. Check the release notes supplied with your Avid application for the latest information that might have become available after the hardcopy documentation was printed.

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

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

5. For Technical Support, please call 800-800-AVID (800-800-2843).

For Broadcast On-Air Sites and Call Letter Stations, call 800-NEWSDNG (800-639-7364).

Related Information

After learning the basics about Avid Xpress DV in this guide, consult the following for information about all product features:

• Avid Xpress DV Release 3.5 Release Notes for the Mac OS X Operating System

The release notes include important information you should read before installing and using Avid Xpress DV on a Mac OS X system.

• Avid Xpress DV Release 3.5 Release Notes for the Windows XP Operating System

The release notes include important information you should read before installing and using Avid Xpress DV on a Windows XP system.

Related Information

• Avid Xpress DV User’s Guide

This guide provides complete information on all editing tasks, such as recording footage, viewing and marking footage, editing, trimming, importing, exporting, and generating final output.

• Avid Xpress DV Effects Guide

This guide describes techniques for using digital video effects, titles, third-party effect filters, mattes, keys, paint effects, and layering options.

• Avid Color Correction User’s Guide

This guide provides information about the Avid Color Correction tool

that allows you to:

- Adjust color attributes such as hue, saturation, gain, and gamma

- Control the relationship between input and output color

- Set limits on color levels

- Display waveform and vectorscope information

The Avid Xpress DV Online Publications CD-ROM includes a color version of this guide.

• Avid Xpress DV Help

The Help system includes online, hypertext information for using all product features. It provides all the information included in the Avid Xpress DV User’s Guide, the Avid Xpress DV Effects Guide, and the Avid Color Correction User’s Guide supplied with your system.

• Avid Xpress DV Quick Reference for the Mac OS X Operating System

This folded card lists convenient Macintosh keyboard shortcuts.

• Avid Xpress DV Quick Reference for the Windows XP Operating

System

This folded card lists convenient Windows keyboard shortcuts.

• Avid Xpress DV User’s Guide Supplement (.pdf only)

This document contains information about AudioSuite plug-ins, File Format specifications, and Avid Log Exchange specifications.

Using This Guide

• Avid Xpress DV Online Publications CD-ROM

This online collection provides electronic versions of this guide, the Glossary, and other guides listed in this section. You can view these documents with Adobe from the CD-ROM. The collection also includes the Avid Xpress DV Tour, the Avid Xpress DV Help, the Avid E DL Ma nager User’s Guide, the Avid FilmScribe User’s Guide (available as an option), the Avid

IllusionFX Guide (available as an option), and the Avid Xpress DV User’s Guide Supplement.

Acrobat® Reader®, which you can install

If You Have Documentation Comments

Avid Technology continuously seeks to improve its documentation. We value your comments about this guide, the Help, the Online Publications CD-ROM, and other Avid-supplied documentation.

Simply e-mail your documentation comments to Avid Technology at

TechPubs@avid.com

Please include the title of the document, its part number, revision, and the specific section you are commenting on in all correspondence.

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).

Chapter 1

Setting Up Your Avid Xpress DV System

This chapter describes how to set up your Avid Xpress DV system and contains the following sections:

• Overview

• Check List for Setting Up Your System

• Turning On Your Equipment

• Installing Boards Purchased Separately

• Connecting the Application Key

• Preparing Your Drives (Windows)

• Preparing Your Drives (Macintosh)

• Setting Your Screen Resolution (Windows Only)

FireWire® is a peripheral standard for transmitting data invented by Apple Computer, Inc. The standard has become a cross-platform industry standard called IEEE standard and calls it i.LINK IEEE 1394 (1394) in this document.

1394. Sony Corporation also uses the IEEE 1394

. The transmission standard is referred to as

Chapter 1 Setting Up Your Avid Xpress DV System

Overview

Congratulations! You are about to set up your Avid Xpress DV system. Your Avid Xpress DV hardware might consist of:

• A supported desktop or laptop system, running the Windows XP operating system that contains a supported 1394 capture board (1394 board) with OHCI compliance using the Texas Instruments (TI

• A supported Macintosh system running the Mac OS X operating system

Determining Supported Equipment

™

) chip

The supported desktop systems, laptop systems, Macintosh systems, 1394 boards, and SCSI boards are listed on the Avid

1. Go to www.avid.com, and then click Products.

2. Choose Avid Xpress DV from the product lists that appear, and then click Specifications.

You need to go to this Web site because the supported equipment changes more frequently than this document is published, and you have probably already purchased the equipment.

Purchasing the Equipment

The system can be purchased in one of two ways as follows:

t Purchase a system through an Avid Reseller with the hardware and

software already installed.

t Purchase the system yourself from a system vendor other than Avid,

and purchase a “software only” kit from Avid that contains the software, documentation, and application key (dongle). In this case, you are responsible for installing the hardware and software using the documentation provided by the system vendor and Avid respectively.

Web site.

Check List for Setting Up Your System

The check list in Tabl e 1 lists the tasks you need to complete before you can use your Avid Xpress DV system.

Table 1 Check List for Setting Up Your System

To See

Set up your computer hardware: computer, monitor, mouse, keyboard, and speakers

Turn on your equipment “Turning On Your Equipment” on page 24

Install boards purchased separately (1394 and PCI SCSI)

Connect the application key “Connecting the Application Key” on page 26

Prepare your drives “Preparing Your Drives (Windows)” on

Install Avid Xpress DV software “Installing Avid Xpress DV Software

Create an emergency repair floppy disk “Creating an Emergency Repair Floppy Disk

Install the Avid Xpress DV tutorial files (optional) “Installing the Avid Xpress DV Tutorial Files

Instructions shipped with the computer

“Installing Boards Purchased Separately” on page 25

page 27 and “Preparing Your Drives (Macintosh)” on page 36

(Windows)” on page 40

(Windows Only)” on page 61

(Windows)” on page 50 and “Installing the Avid Xpress DV Tutorial Files (Macintosh)” on page 60

Connect your camera, digital video deck, or transcoder (you can connect these after you install the software if you prefer)

“Connecting a Computer Without a Client Monitor” on page 66

Chapter 1 Setting Up Your Avid Xpress DV System

Turning On Your Equipment

After you have connected the monitor, mouse, keyboard, and speakers (if ordered) using the documentation provided by the vendor, turn on the various components. You need to do this to make sure your system works properly before you install any new hardware or Avid software. If your system works before you install the hardware, but not after you install the hardware, you know where to start troubleshooting.

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, see the instructions for setting up your computer hardware.

To check the system before you install the hardware:

1. Turn on all peripheral units, such as the monitor and speakers.

For information on your operating system features, such as the desktop and icons, see your computer system documentation.

If for any reason you have external drives attached to the system, you should also turn them on.

2. Turn on your computer.

If this is the first time the computer has been turned on, you might have to answer questions related to the licensing and setup of the operating system.

3. When you see the logon screen, do not type a password, just press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh) and the desktop appears.

4. Do any type of basic computer operations like checking the disks or running any program to see if the system seems to be working properly.

5. Shut the system down.

Installing Boards Purchased Separately

The following sections explain where to find installation instructions if you have purchased supported versions of a separate 1394 board and a separate PCI SCSI board.

The operating system will use its plug-and-play capability to install the software for the boards the first time you turn on the system after the boards are installed. If the software is not available on the system disk and installed automatically, a software installation wizard appears. You should follow the instructions provided by the wizard to install the software for the boards from the CD-ROM or floppy disk provided with the board.

Installing the 1394 Capture Board

If you purchased the 1394 board separately and you have tested your system, as explained in “Turning On Your Equipment” on page 24, you should turn off your system and install the supported 1394 capture board (1394 board). The 1394 board can be either a PCI version or a PCMCIA version that is OHCI compliant and uses the Texas Instruments (TI) chip.

If you have purchased a supported Macintosh system, you do not have to install a separate 1394 board into the system. Your Macintosh system has built-in 1394 ports at the front or rear of the system.

You might not need to install a 1394 board into your system if Avid supports a desktop or laptop system that has a built-in 1394 connection.

You should follow the instructions in the documentation that ships with your computer to install the 1394 board into the computer. At this time, there is no specific PCI slot assignment for the 1394 board in desktop computers.

If you have purchased one of the 1394 boards supported by Avid, a new driver for the board will be installed with the Avid Xpress DV software.

Chapter 1 Setting Up Your Avid Xpress DV System

Installing the PCI SCSI Board

If you have purchased a supported PCI version of a SCSI board and you have tested your system, as explained in “Turning On Your Equipment” on

page 24, you should turn off your system and install the supported PCI

SCSI board. At this time, the only PCI SCSI board Avid supports is the Adaptec date.

You should follow the instructions in the documentation that ships with your computer to install the PCI SCSI board into the computer. At this time, there is no specific PCI slot assignment for the PCI SCSI board in desktop computers. See “Preparing Your Drives (Windows)” on page 27 for more disk information.

™

29160 board. Different boards might be supported at a later

Connecting the Application Key

The application key, commonly referred to as a dongle, allows Avid Xpress DV software to run on your computer. You must connect the application key to a USB port on the computer. The computer sees the application key when it is booting. If you connect the application key after you boot the computer, you must reboot the computer. Figure 1 shows the application key.

Application keys cannot be moved between Windows and Macintosh systems.

Figure 1 Application Key

Be careful you do not lose the application key. Your Avid Xpress DV software does not function without it. If you lose your application key, you must purchase another key from Avid at the full market cost of your Avid Xpress DV software.

Preparing Your Drives (Windows)

There are two types of disk drives defined by the Windows operating system:

• Basic — Disk drives allow disks to be divided into partitions. This type of drive is supported by Avid.

• Dynamic — Disk drives allow disks to be divided into volumes. Disk drives must be Dynamic if you want to stripe, mirror, or use disks in the RAID style. Avid does not support the use of Dynamic disks.

To use Avid Xpress DV software on your system, your drives need to be partitioned and formatted properly. Partitioning allows you to divide a drive into more than one section if needed, and formatting places a file system on each partition.

Your computer always contains a disk drive that is already at least partially partitioned and formatted (see “Checking Your Internal Drives (Windows

Only)” on page 30). This partition contains the operating system. That’s

why the operating system appears automatically when you turn on the computer.

Preparing Your Drives (Windows)

The remaining portion of the first drive and the second drive might already be partitioned or they might be left unallocated.

This section includes the following information:

• Overview of Partitioning Basic Drives (Windows Only)

• Supported File Systems (Windows Only)

• Checking Your Internal Drives (Windows Only)

• Creating Primary Partitions and Formatting (Windows Only)

• Testing Drives (Windows Only)

Chapter 1 Setting Up Your Avid Xpress DV System

Overview of Partitioning Basic Drives (Windows Only)

Your operating system allows you to create multiple partitions on a single physical drive as a way to manage projects and files. The following are two ways Avid supports drive partitioning.

The letters G through J used are examples only.

• You can partition your drive as one primary partition, having the partition represented by a drive letter.

One partition

• You can have up to four primary partitions per drive. Each partition is assigned a drive letter and cannot be further subdivided.

Four partitions

For specific recommendations for partitioning your drives, see “Creating

Primary Partitions and Formatting (Windows Only)” on page 32.

The Computer Management window has a text frame that describes each partition as a “Volume laid out as a partition” (see “Checking Your

Internal Drives (Windows Only)” on page 30). See the Help icon in the

toolbar of the Computer Management window for any information regarding disk usage in the Windows operating system.

Drive G

Drives G – J

Supported File Systems (Windows Only)

Your operating system supports three types of file systems:

• Two types of the File Allocation Table (FAT); FAT 16 and FAT 32. FAT is primarily used when backward compatibility is needed on operating systems such as MS-DOS FAT 32 file system is no longer limited to a 2-GB partition size. Avid supports the FAT 32 file system.

• The New Technology File System (NTFS). NTFS affords the user security, compression, and other file recovery features. Drives employing NTFS support partitions of any size. Avid supports the NTFS file system.

When you partition your drives Avid recommends:

t Choosing NTFS from the pop-up menu when you partition your disk

drives for use on desktop computers.

t Choosing FAT 32 from the pop-up menu when you partition your disk

drives for use on laptop computers.

or other versions of Windows. The new

Preparing Your Drives (Windows)

One of your internal disk drives (normally designated drive C) has a partition that contains the operating system. This drive might be labeled System or Boot. You should not reformat this partition unless you need to rebuild your system disk drive.

Chapter 1 Setting Up Your Avid Xpress DV System

Checking Your Internal Drives (Windows Only)

You might have one or two internal drives in your desktop or laptop computer. Depending on how you purchased your desktop computer, the internal drives might be set up using different formats (laptops normally only use a FAT 32 file system). A desktop computer is used as an example in this section.

• The first drive might have a 2-GB partition that is formatted with a FAT 32 file system or an NTFS partition. This partition is your system or boot drive, which is normally designated drive C in the factory default configuration. The remaining portion of this drive might need to be partitioned and formatted before you install Avid Xpress DV software.

• The first drive might have one large NTFS partition, but this partition would still be your system or boot drive and is normally designated drive C in the factory default configuration.

• The second drive is intended to be used as a media drive. This drive might already be partitioned and formatted, or you might need to partition and format this drive as well.

To check your internal drives:

1. Start your system and log in to an account with administrative privileges.

2. Click the Start button, point to Settings, and select Control Panel. The Control Panel window opens.

3. Double-click Administrative Tools.

4. Double-click Computer Management. The Computer Management window opens.

5. Double-click the Disk Management folder (see Figure 2). Depending on the size of the window that opens, you might want to click the Maximize button in the upper right corner of the window.

Figure 2 shows an example of the Computer Management window

with the Disk Management folder selected.

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