Pinnacle Systems Xpress DV - 3.5 User Manual

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Avid Xpress® DV

Effects Guide

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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.

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.

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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.

iNEWS and Media Browse are trademarks of iNews, LLC.

Apple, Macintosh, and TrueType are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Adobe, Acrobat Reader, and Photoshop are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. Boris FX is a trademark of Artel Software, Inc. Kodak is a trademark of Eastman Kodak Company. 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. Ultimatte is a registered trademark of Ultimatte Corporation. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

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Footage

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

Avid Xpress DV Effects Guide • Part 0130-05341-01 • June 2002

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Using This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Who Should Use This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

About This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Symbols and Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

If You Need Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Related Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

If You Have Documentation Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

How to Order Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Avid Educational Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Chapter 1 Preparing to Work with Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Effect Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Effects Creation Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Understanding Effect Playback Capabilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Using the Effect Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Understanding the Effect Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Displaying the Effect Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Resizing the Effect Palette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Displaying Effect Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Using Third-Party Plug-in Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Understanding AVX Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

IllusionFX Pack Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Installing AVX Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Locating the AVX Plug-Ins Folder (Windows Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Upgrading AVX Plug-ins and Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

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Assigning Multiple Tracks in Plug-in Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Using AVX Plug-in Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Accessing an AVX Custom Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Custom AVX Controls in the Effect Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Troubleshooting AVX Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Plug-in Does Not Appear in the Effect Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Plug-in Does Not Load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Avid Xpress DV Cannot Render the Plug-In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Blank Effect Icons in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Missing Effect Categories in the Effect Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Deconstructing Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Applying Effects to a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Applying an Effect to a Single Transition or Segment . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Dragging an Effect from the Effect Palette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Double-Clicking an Effect Icon in the Effect Palette. . . . . . . . . . 52

Applying an Effect to Multiple Transitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Applying an Effect to Multiple Segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Deleting Effects in a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Deleting a Single Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Deleting Multiple Transition Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Deleting Multiple Segment Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Using the Fade Effect Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Working with Transition Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Applying a Dissolve Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Using the Effect Palette to Create a Dissolve Effect . . . . . . . . . 60

Creating a Dissolve in Trim Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Adding Dissolves with the Head Fade and Tail Fade Buttons . . 62

Using the Quick Transition Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Creating an Effect Using the Quick Transition Button . . . . . . . . 64

Applying Effects to Multiple Transitions Using the

Quick Transition Button. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Understanding the Graphical Display in the Quick

Transition Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

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Sizing the Effect to Fit the Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Trimming a Transition Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Chapter 3 Customizing Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Opening the Effect Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Customizing the Effect Display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Understanding the Effect Preview Monitor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Effect Preview Monitor Toolbar Buttons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Understanding the Tracking Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Displaying the Safe Title and Safe Action Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Moving an Enlarged Image in the Effect Preview Monitor . . . . . . . . 83

Changing Position in an Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Replacing an Effect in Effect Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Using the Effect Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Effect Editor Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Displaying an Effect’s Parameters in the Effect Editor. . . . . . . . . . . 90

Understanding Effect Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Using Parameter Sliders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Using Parameter Enable Buttons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Using Fast Menu Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Using the Other Options Button to Access Parameters. . . . . . . . . . 94

Adjusting a Color Parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Using the Eyedropper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Using the Windows Color Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Using the Macintosh Color Picker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Understanding Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Using Standard Keyframes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Adding a Standard Keyframe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Selecting a Standard Keyframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Moving a Standard Keyframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Changing a Standard Keyframe’s Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Copying and Pasting Standard Keyframe Parameters . . . . . . . . . 101

Deleting a Standard Keyframe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

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Working with Advanced Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Promoting Effects to Advanced Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Opening Keyframe Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Effect Editor Controls for Advanced Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Shortcut Menus for Advanced Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Adding and Deleting Keyframes in Keyframe Graphs . . . . . . . . . . 107

Using the Add Keyframe Mode Menu and the Delete

Keyframe Mode Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Moving Keyframes in Keyframe Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Copying and Pasting Advanced Keyframe Parameters . . . . . . . . . 119

Selecting and Deselecting Advanced Keyframes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Elastic Keyframes and Fixed Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Parameter Changes at Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Options for Controlling Parameter Changes at Keyframes . . . 125 Adjusting Parameter Values with the Bézier

Interpolation Option. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Changing the Adjustment Method for the Bézier

Interpolation Option. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Align Keyframes and Slip Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Aligning Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Slipping Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Extrapolate and Hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Adjusting the View in Keyframe Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Zooming and Scrolling Keyframe Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Resizing Keyframe Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Moving Keyframe Graph Views Up or Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Resetting Keyframe Graph Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Options for Using Advanced Keyframes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Manipulating Effects Directly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Defining Motion Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Moving the Image Directly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Resizing a Foreground Image by Dragging Handles . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Using an Effect Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Saving an Effect Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Applying an Effect Template. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

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Chapter 4 Playing, Previewing, and Rendering Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Playing an Effect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Basic Playback. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Playing an Effect in a Continuous Loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Playing a Preview of an Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Previewing Effect Frames with Render On-the-Fly . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Interrupting Render On-the-Fly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Real-Time Preview of Video Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Understanding Real-Time Effects Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Understanding Monitor Options for Real-Time Effects Preview. . . 160

Enabling Real-Time Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Understanding Real-Time Playback Information in the

Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Controlling Real-Time Effects Playback. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Using Video Display Settings for Real-Time Effects Preview . . . . 166

Rendering Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Creating and Using Render Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Creating a New Render Setting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Adjusting Render Settings Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Activating a Render Setting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Partial Render . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Interrupting a Render. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Customizing Render Ranges Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Rendering a Single Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Rendering Effects at Position. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Rendering Effects Between IN and OUT Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

ExpertRender. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Understanding ExpertRender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Using ExpertRender to Render Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Modifying ExpertRender Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Considerations When Using ExpertRender. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Managing Effect Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Revealing Effect Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Deleting Effect Media Files from a Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Page 10

Chapter 5 Creating Motion Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Understanding Motion Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Creating Motion Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Rendering Considerations When Creating Motion Effects . . . . . . . 197

Displaying Information About Motion Effect Type Changes . . . . . . 198

Freeze Frame Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Creating a Freeze Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Controlling a Freeze Frame with a Single Button or Key . . . . . 201

Creating a Rolling Clip That Freezes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Creating a Variable Speed Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Using the Fit to Fill Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Creating a Strobe Motion Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Stabilizing an Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Making Adjustments to the Region of Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Chapter 6 Creating Layered and Nested Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Creating Key Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Creating a Chroma Key Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Creating a Luma Key Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Creating a Matte Key Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Using the Color Effect to Prepare a High-Contrast Image . . . . . . . 220

Working with Imported Graphics and Animation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Editing with Imported Matte Key Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Editing with Imported Master Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Nesting Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

Expanding Nested Effects in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Stepping Into and Out of Nested Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Creating a Simple Nested Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

Changing the Order of Nested Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Nesting a Matte Key Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Submaster Editing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Applying the Submaster Effect to a Multilayered Sequence. . . . . . 232

Using the Submaster Effect with a Series of Short Clips . . . . . . . . 234

Collapsing Layers into One Submaster Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Performing a Video Mixdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Page 11

Chapter 7 Creating Titles and Graphic Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Workflow for Creating Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

Opening the Title Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

Understanding the Title Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Understanding the Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

Using the Selection Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

Setting Up the Drawing Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Installing Fonts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Previewing Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

Displaying Safe Title or Safe Action Guidelines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Using Safe Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Selecting a Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Switching Between Video and Color Backgrounds . . . . . . . . . 248

Updating the Video Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Creating a Color Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Using the Alignment and Snap Grids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

Bringing the Title Tool to the Foreground . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

Working with Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

Creating Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

Copying and Pasting Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Resizing Text Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Repositioning Text Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Editing a Text String. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Formatting the Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Selecting Text for Formatting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Setting the Default Text Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Changing the Font . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Changing the Point Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Making Text Bold or Italic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Justifying the Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Adjusting Text Kerning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Adjusting Leading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Page 12

Creating Graphic Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Drawing a Square or Rectangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Drawing a Circle or Oval. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Drawing a Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Selecting Line Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Rounding Corners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Selecting a Line or Border Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Adding Arrowheads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Changing Arrowhead Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

Selecting Colors and Setting Transparency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Adjusting the Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Blending Two Colors in an Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Using the Title Tool Color Picker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Adjusting the Transparency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Blending Transparency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Working with Shadows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Applying Shadows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Adjusting Shadow Color and Transparency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Setting Shadow Softness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Adjusting Shadow Softness On-the-Fly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Viewing Shadow Softness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Creating a Glow Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Manipulating Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Basic Manipulation Operations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Layering Text and Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

Grouping and Ungrouping Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Locking and Unlocking Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Aligning Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Distributing Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282

Saving Titles, Title Styles, and Title Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

Saving a Title and Exiting the Title Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

Saving Multiple Titles in a Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Page 13

Using the Fast Save Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Saving a Title with Fast Save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Viewing Fast-Saved Titles in a Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Rendering Fast-Saved Titles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Revising a Title in a Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Using a Keyboard Shortcut to Save a Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Saving and Recalling Title Styles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Saving a Title Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Recalling a Title Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

Confirming Function Key Mapping of Title Styles . . . . . . . . . . 292

Applying Title Styles to Text Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Managing Title Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Creating and Using Title Templates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Creating Title Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Using Title Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

Exporting a Title as a Graphics File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

Chapter 8 Editing with Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Workflow for Editing with Titles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300

Restrictions on Title Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300

Understanding Title Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Displaying Title Frames in the Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

Editing a Title into a Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Splicing or Overwriting a Title into a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Dragging a Marked Title into a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Dragging an Unmarked Title into a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

Removing Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

Replacing Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Fading a Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Adjusting Title Effect Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Revising a Title in a Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

Replacing Fill Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312

Rendering Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314

Re-creating Title Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314

Page 14

Chapter 9 2D Effects Reference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

2D Effects Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

Global and Keyframeable Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

Acceleration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

Border. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Color Effect Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322

Luma Adjust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322

Luma Range. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324

Luma Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

Chroma Adjust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

Color Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

Color Gain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

Crop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

Foreground . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

Key Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

Secondary Key. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

Spill Suppression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

Matrix Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

Motion Effect Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338

Freeze Frame Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338

Variable Speed and Strobe Motion Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . 340

Plug-in Effect Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

Position. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

Region Stabilize Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344

Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344

Region of Interest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345

Auto Zoom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

Progressive Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

Scaling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

Transition Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348

Page 15

2D Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349

Blend Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350

Dip to Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350

Dissolve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351

Fade from Color. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

Fade to Color. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

Picture-in-Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

Superimpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

Box Wipe Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356

Bottom Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357

Bottom Left to Top Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

Bottom Right to Top Left . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359

Left Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

Right Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

Top Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362

Top Left to Bottom Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

Top Right to Bottom Left . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

Conceal Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

Bottom Left to Top Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

Bottom Right to Top Left . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

Bottom to Top . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

Left to Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369

Right to Left . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370

Top Left to Bottom Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

Top Right to Bottom Left . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

Top to Bottom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

Edge Wipe Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374

Horizontal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375

Horizontal Open. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

Lower Left Diagonal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

Lower Right Diagonal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378

Upper Left Diagonal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

Upper Right Diagonal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380

Vertical. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381

Vertical Open. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382

Page 16

Film Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

1.66 Mask. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384

1.85 Mask. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385

16:9 Mask. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

Anamorphic Mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387

Blowup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

Film Dissolve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389

Film Fade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390

Mask. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391

Image Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392

Color Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393

Flip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394

Flip-Flop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

Flop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396

Mask. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397

Region Stabilize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398

Resize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399

Submaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400

Key Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400

Chroma Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401

Luma Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402

Matte Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403

L-Conceal Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404

Bottom Left. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404

Bottom Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405

Top Left . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406

Top Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407

Matrix Wipe Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408

Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409

One-Way Row . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

Speckle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411

Spiral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412

Zig-Zag. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413

Page 17

Motion Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414

Freeze Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414

Variable Speed and Strobe Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414

Peel Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415

Bottom Left Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416

Bottom Right Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417

Bottom to Top . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418

Left to Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419

Right to Left . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420

Top Left Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421

Top Right Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422

Top to Bottom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423

Push Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424

Bottom Left to Top Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425

Bottom Right to Top Left . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426

Bottom to Top . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427

Left to Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428

Right to Left . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429

Top Left to Bottom Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430

Top Right to Bottom Left . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431

Top to Bottom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432

Sawtooth Wipe Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433

Horizontal Sawtooth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433

Horizontal Open Sawtooth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434

Vertical Open Sawtooth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435

Vertical Sawtooth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436

Shape Wipe Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437

4 Corners. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438

Center Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439

Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440

Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441

Diamond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442

Ellipse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443

Page 18

Horizontal Bands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444

Horizontal Blinds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445

Vertical Blinds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446

Spin Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446

X Spin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447

Y Spin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448

Squeeze Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449

Bottom Centered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450

Bottom Left. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451

Bottom Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452

Bottom to Top. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453

Centered Zoom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454

Horizontal Centered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455

Left Centered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456

Left to Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457

Right Centered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458

Right to Left . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459

Top Centered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460

Top Left . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461

Top Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462

Top to Bottom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463

Vertical Centered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464

Title Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465

Comparison of Similar Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467

Page 19

Tables

Table 1 Effect Preview Monitor Toolbar Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80

Table 2 Effect Editor Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88

Table 3 Effect Editor Toolbar for Advanced Keyframes . . . . . . . .105

Table 4 Keyframe Graph Shortcut Menu Options. . . . . . . . . . . . .106

Table 5 Effect Editor Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144

Table 6 Render Settings Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170

Table 7 Title Toolbar Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .242

Page 20

Page 21

Using This Guide

This guide is your introduction to the wealth of effects and design options available for use in your projects. Along with the standard editing features included with this latest release of the Avid Xpress at your fingertips all the sophisticated effects capabilities of a high-end postproduction suite, combined with the versatility of a digital nonlinear system.

You can use the tools and techniques described in this guide to create and incorporate into your sequence titles and effects with a wide variety of attributes. This guide also describes how to apply third-party plug-in effect filters for stunning effects formerly available only on high-end graphics workstations.

DV system, you have

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 intended for all Avid Xpress DV users, from beginning to advanced.

Page 22

Using This Guide

About This Guide

This guide is designed to keep pace with current advances in the Avid Xpress DV effects capabilities by consolidating in one comprehensive resource all the information you will need to take advantage of the many options available. This guide leads you through even the most complex procedures with task-oriented instructions. The information provided here builds on editing procedures described in the getting started guide and the user’s guide for Avid Xpress DV, while adding a complete explanation of all the tools and techniques required to create, apply, and adjust various effects and graphics, including useful tips, shortcuts, and custom options.

Consider keeping the Avid Xpress DV User’s Guide and the Avid Xpress DV Quick Reference available during each session.

The Contents lists all topics included in the book. They cover the following general areas:

• Effects editing: Chapters 1 through 6 of this book describe various beginning and advanced techniques for incorporating literally hundreds of digital video effects (DVEs), third-party effect filters, complex motion effects, keys, and layering options.

• Creating and editing titles and graphic objects: Chapter 7 and

Chapter 8 cover titling and use of the tools to create and control the

attributes of on-screen text, backgrounds, lines, boxes, ovals, and other graphics objects. You can create multiple titles without exiting the Title tool, and apply shadows, color, transparency, layers, and alignment to both objects and text.

• 2D effects reference: Chapter 9 provides quick access to specific information about the 2D effects and parameters available with Avid Xpress DV.

•The Index helps you locate specific topics.

Page 23

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:

• (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.

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.

In this document, the term “user’s guide” refers to the Avid Xpress DV

User’s Guide. The term “getting started guide” refers to the Avid Xpress DV Getting Started Guide. The term “online publications CD-ROM” refers to the Avid Xpress DV Online Publications CD-ROM.

Courier Bold font identifies text that you type.

Page 24

Using This Guide

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.

If You Need Help

If you’re 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).

Page 25

Related Information

The following documents provide more information about the Avid Xpress DV product:

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

• Avid Xpress DV Release Notes for Mac OS X

• Avid Xpress DV Getting Started Guide

• Avid Xpress DV Quick Reference for the Windows XP Operating System

• Avid Xpress DV Quick Reference for Mac OS X

• Avid Xpress DV User’s Guide

• Avid Xpress DV User’s Guide Supplement (available on the Avid Xpress DV Online Publications CD-ROM in PDF format)

• Avid Color Correction User’s Guide

• Avid Xpress DV Online Publications CD-ROM

Related Information

This online collection provides electronic versions of most documents listed in this section, as well as documents for related Avid applications. You can view these documents with Adobe

Acrobat®Reader®, which you can install from the CD-ROM.

• Avid Xpress DV Help The Help system 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. It also includes supplemental information not in the manuals. The Help operates in a Web browser. To open the Help, choose Avid Xpress DV Help from the Help menu in the Avid Xpress DV application. For information on using Help, click the Using Help button in the Help system.

Page 26

Using This Guide

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 UnitedStates, call Avid Sales at 800-949-AVID (800-949-2843). If you areplacing an order from outside the United States, contact your local Avidrepresentative.

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).

Page 27

Chapter 1

Preparing to Work with Effects

Avid Xpress DV offers many effects that you can apply to your sequences. This chapter describes concepts you should understand before you begin creating and editing effects into sequences.

• Effect Types

• Effects Creation Tools

• Understanding Effect Playback Capabilities

• Using the Effect Palette

• Using Third-Party Plug-in Effects

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Chapter 1 Preparing to Work with Effects

Effect Types

Much overlapping occurs between the various types of effects you can create, as well as the methods used to create them. Your system offers four basic effect types.

• Transition effects (dissolves, wipes, and so forth) are applied at the

cut point between two video clips that are on the same video track (that is, the same video layer). For more information on creating transition effects, see Chapter 2, “Basics of Effects Editing” and Chapter 3, “Customizing Effects.”

• Segment effects are applied to an entire clip or group of clips. There

are two types of segment effects:

- A single-layer segment effect, such as the Mask effect, is applied

to a segment on one video track. Single-layer segment effects use one stream of video. For more information on creating single-layer segment effects, see Chapter 2, “Basics of Effects Editing” and

Chapter 3, “Customizing Effects.”

- A multilayer segment effect, such as the Picture-in-Picture effect,

is applied to the top layer or a middle layer of segments that contain two or more video tracks that will be played simultaneously. For more information on techniques for creating multilayer effects, see Chapter 6, “Creating Layered and Nested

Effects.”

• Title effects are created with the Title tool and edited onto their own

layers in a sequence. For more information on techniques for creating and editing title effects, see Chapter 7, “Creating Titles and

Graphic Objects” and Chapter 8, “Editing with Titles.”

• Motion effects (freeze frame, variable speed, and strobe) are created

by manipulating the playback characteristics of a clip of footage. For more information on techniques for creating motion effects, see

Chapter 5, “Creating Motion Effects.”

Page 29

Effects Creation Tools

The following chart presents the basic tools used to create effects.

Effects Creation Tools

Sources of effects:

Effect Palette

Apply transition and segment effects directly to tracks.

Effects editing in default editing mode:

Effects adjustment in Effect mode:

Motion Effect dialog box Title tool

Title and motion effects appear first as clips in the bin.

Edit effect clips into the Timeline.

Effect Editor: Allows you to adjust effect parameters.

Effect Preview monitor: Allows you to preview an effect, manipulate keyframes, and manipulate wire-frame representations of the effect.

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Chapter 1 Preparing to Work with Effects

Understanding Effect Playback Capabilities

When you apply an effect to video in Avid Xpress DV, you change the look of that video, for example by altering its color values or by blending frames from one clip with frames from another. In some circumstances, your system is able to calculate these changes and display them in real

time. In other circumstances, your system is unable to do this, so you must render the effect to play it at full speed. When you render an effect, the

system calculates the changes made to each frame of the effect and stores them in a file, known as a precomputed master clip (or simply a precompute), which it can then use to play back the effect.

It is important to understand when you can use real-time effect playback to keep your effect editing work fast and flexible, and when you must render effects. The following paragraphs provide a brief introduction to the main alternatives available. For complete information on effect playback and rendering, see Chapter 4.

Most effects in Avid Xpress DV can be played in real time within the system while your work is still in progress. This allows you to preview the look of effects and make adjustments to them without having to render the effects. Your system cannot play motion effects or some third-party plug-in effects in real time; these effects must always be rendered before you can see how they look when playing at full speed.

Avid Xpress DV’s ability to preview effects in real time is dependent on the complexity of the effects in your sequence and on system factors such as processor speed and available memory. For more information on real-time preview of effects, see “Real-Time Preview of Video Effects” on page 159.

If you want to preview effects that your system cannot play in real time without rendering them, you can use the Render On-the-Fly option to preview them frame by frame. For more information, see “Previewing

Effect Frames with Render On-the-Fly” on page 158.

Page 31

When you are ready to output a sequence that includes effects, you must render the majority of those effects. The exact number of effects that you must render for output depends on the following factors:

• Whether your output will be analog or DV

• How complex your sequence is, and especially how your effects are layered on multiple video tracks.

For more information, see “Rendering Effects” on page 167.

Using the Effect Palette

The Effect Palette is a window that lists all the effects available on your Avid Xpress DV system. The complete set of effects available on your system includes all standard Avid effects for your model as well as any additional third-party plug-ins you might have installed. You select transition and segment effects from the Effect Palette.

Using the Effect Palette

Understanding the Effect Palette

The left side of the Effect Palette displays a scrollable list of effect categories that includes the following standard categories as well as categories for any third-party plug-ins you have installed.

•Blend

• Box Wipe

• Conceal

• Edge Wipe

•Film

• IllusionFX

•Image

•Key

• L-Conceal

• Matrix Wipe

™

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Chapter 1 Preparing to Work with Effects

•Peel

•Push

• Sawtooth Wipe

•Shape Wipe

•Spin

• Squeeze

If you have effect templates saved in an open bin, or if you have third-party plug-in effects installed on your system, additional effect categories appear in the Effect Palette.

The IllusionFX category appears in the Effect Palette and contains the IllusionFX Pack plug-ins that are standard with your Avid system. For information on IllusionFX Pack effects, see the Help or the documentation in the Goodies folder on the application CD-ROM: Goodies\IllusionFXPack\IllusionFXPack.pdf.

The right side of the Effect Palette shows a list of the individual effects available for the currently selected effect category. Each effect has its own effect icon. Effects that are or might be playable in real time appear with a color-coded dot. For more information, see “Enabling Real-Time Effects”

on page 161.

Page 33

Displaying the Effect Palette

You can display the Effect Palette within the Project window or as a standalone window.

To display the Effect Palette within the Project window:

1. In the Project window, click the Effects tab, which displays the Effect icon.

Scrollable list of effect categories

Using the Effect Palette

Effect icon

Blend effect choices

2. Click an effect category in the left side of the Effect Palette to select it and display effects in that category in the right side.

Page 34

Chapter 1 Preparing to Work with Effects

To display the Effect Palette as a standalone window:

1. Do one of the following:

t From the Tools menu, choose Effect Palette. t Press Ctrl+8 (Windows) or k+8 (Macintosh).

The Effect Palette opens.

Scrollable list of effect categories

Matrix Wipe effect choices

2. Click an effect category in the left side of the Effect Palette to select it and display effects in that category in the right side.

Resizing the Effect Palette

You can resize the Effect Palette to display more effects when a particular category includes a long list of icons.

To resize the Effect Palette:

t Click the lower right corner of the standalone palette or of the Project

window, drag the palette to the size you want, and then release the mouse button.

Page 35

Displaying Effect Templates

Effect templates allow you to save the parameters of an effect to a bin and use them again to create or modify other effects. To learn more about applying templates, see “Using an Effect Template” on page 150.

In addition to displaying all the standard effects, the Effect Palette allows you to view and access effect templates stored in open bins. The names of open bins containing effects appear in a list below the effect categories.

To view effect templates:

1. Open the bin containing the effect templates.

Using the Effect Palette

2. Open the Effect Palette by doing one of the following:

t In the Project window, click the Effects tab. t From the Tools menu, choose Effect Palette.

The Effect Palette opens.

3. Click the bin name below the effect category list to view the effect templates in the bin.

Page 36

Chapter 1 Preparing to Work with Effects

Effect category list

Bin name containing effect templates

For example, in the preceding illustration, the bin named Effects and Titles contains effect templates using the Zig-Zag Matrix and Matte Key effects.

Effect templates

The Effect Palette also displays other effect files, such as matte key clips.

Whenever you open or close a bin and whenever you drop an effect into a bin, Avid Xpress DV automatically updates both lists. Once a template appears in the right side of the Effect Palette, you can apply it as you would any other effect.

Using Third-Party Plug-in Effects

You can use third-party plug-in effects to add new effects to your Avid Xpress DV system or to update existing effects.

Understanding AVX Plug-Ins

Third-party plug-in effects are compatible with the Avid Visual Extensions

™

(AVX to allow software effect modules to be dynamically linked with a host application such as an Avid editing system.

If you are transferring from another system a project that includes sequences with AVX plug-in effects, you must install matching AVX plug-ins to see the effects.

) standard. AVX is a cross-platform software architecture designed

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Using Third-Party Plug-in Effects

You can purchase these plug-ins directly from a third-party vendor. Two of the current AVX plug-in vendors are:

•Ultimatte Corporation (Ultimatte

www.ultimatte.com

™

• Artel Software (Boris FX

www.borisfx.com

For a complete, up-to-date list of AVX plug-in vendors and other information on AVX, see the AVX Web site:

www.avid.com/partners/avx/index.html

After you install third-party plug-ins, the effects appear in the Effect Palette in their own category (usually the name of the plug-in vendor). Individual effects all have a plug effect icon. The plug icon also appears in the Timeline when you apply a third-party plug-in effect. After you create an effect, you can save it as an effect template and reapply the template to other transitions or segments in your sequence. Effect templates also appear in a special section at the bottom of the Effect Palette.

)

Your Avid Xpress DV system also supports Digidesign® AudioSuite™ plug-ins. These plug-ins apply only to audio clips and do not appear in the Effect Palette. For more information, see the chapter “Working with Audio” in the user’s guide.

IllusionFX Pack Plug-Ins

The IllusionFX category in the Effect Palette contains a number of AVX plug-ins that are standard on your Avid system. For information on these effects, see the Help for your system or the documentation in the following folder on the application CD-ROM:

Goodies\IllusionFXPack\IllusionFXPack.pdf

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Chapter 1 Preparing to Work with Effects

Installing AVX Plug-Ins

AVX plug-ins usually come complete with any necessary documentation. This section describes how to install the plug-ins and how to access them from your Avid Xpress DV system.

Most AVX plug-ins have their own installation program. This program locates the AVX_Plug-Ins folder and installs the plug-ins automatically when you follow the installation instructions.

If an AVX plug-in has an installation program, you should always use the program to install the plug-ins. For more information, see the documentation for the plug-in.

Some AVX plug-ins do not have an installation program and must be installed manually.

To install AVX plug-ins manually:

1. Quit the Avid Xpress DV application.

Do not add or remove plug-ins while Avid Xpress DV is running.

2. Copy the plug-in files from the software vendor’s folder to the AVX_Plug-Ins folder located on your Avid Xpress DV system.

The default location for the AVX_Plug-Ins folder is: C:\Program Files\Avid\AVX_Plug-Ins (Windows) Avid:Avid Xpress:SupportingFiles:AVX_Plug-Ins (Macintosh) However, the AVX_Plug-Ins folder might be in a different location on

your system.

(Windows only) If the AVX_Plug-Ins folder does not appear in the default location and you don’t know its location, you can locate the folder by using the Regedit application. For more information, see “Locating the AVX

Plug-Ins Folder (Windows Only)” on page 40.

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Using Third-Party Plug-in Effects

The following illustration shows the location of the AVX_Plug-Ins folder within the Avid file structure on a Macintosh system.

3. Restart the Avid Xpress DV application, and open the Effect Palette. The AVX plug-in effects appear in the Effect Palette, usually in their own category under the name of the vendor.

You must place the plug-ins directly in the AVX_Plug-Ins folder. They cannot be inside another folder within this folder or elsewhere on your Avid Xpress DV system. If they are, Avid Xpress DV will not recognize them.

If the plug-in effects do not appear in the Effect Palette after installation, see “Troubleshooting AVX Plug-Ins” on page 44.

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Chapter 1 Preparing to Work with Effects

Locating the AVX Plug-Ins Folder (Windows Only)

When the Avid Xpress DV application is first installed, the installation program asks the administrator to choose a location for the AVX_Plug-Ins folder. The default path is:

C:\Program Files\Avid\AVX_Plug-Ins

If the administrator accepts the default location for the AVX_Plug-Ins folder, you can install AVX plug-ins here.

If the AVX_Plug-Ins folder is not in the default location, or if the effects are not appearing in the Effect Palette after you install them, you can use the Regedit application that comes with your Windows system to identify the location of the AVX_Plug-Ins folder.

Use the following procedure only to obtain information on the location of the AVX_Plug-Ins folder. Do not change any of the information in the Windows Registry. Changing values in the Windows Registry might affect the performance of your system.

To locate the AVX_Plug-Ins folder by using Regedit:

1. Click the Start button, and then click Run.

2. Type regedit in the command line, and click OK.

The Registry Editor window opens.

3. In the left pane of the window, navigate to the following path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Avid Technology\AVX Plug-Ins

4. Click the AVX Plug-Ins folder in the left pane, and then check the entry for “Directory” in the right pane.

The value of this entry is the path that contains the AVX_Plug-Ins folder. For example, if the AVX_Plug-Ins folder is in its default location, the Directory entry will be “C:\Program Files\Avid.” If you navigate to C:\Program Files\Avid by using My Computer or Windows Explorer, you will find the AVX_Plug-Ins folder in that location.

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Using Third-Party Plug-in Effects

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Avid Technology\AVX Plug-Ins Directory entry. The path listed here is the path

that contains the AVX Plug-Ins folder.

Remember that AVX plug-ins must be installed in the AVX_Plug-Ins folder itself, not elsewhere in the path that contains that folder.

Upgrading AVX Plug-ins and Effects

You can upgrade an AVX plug-in simply by uninstalling the old version of the plug-in and installing the new version in your AVX_Plug-Ins folder.

Once you have installed a new version of an AVX plug-in, Avid Xpress DV upgrades older effects in sequences to be compatible with the new version. The parameter values previously set by the user for an effect appear in the Effect Editor or in the plug-in’s own user interface.

If the new version of the plug-in has new or redesigned parameter controls, Avid Xpress DV sets these controls to their default settings when upgrading existing effects. Controls that are unchanged from the older version of the plug-in retain the values previously set by the user when Avid Xpress DV upgrades existing effects.

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Chapter 1 Preparing to Work with Effects

After you upgrade a plug-in effect or transition, you should not reinstall the older version of the plug-in. Avid Xpress DV cannot use an older version of a plug-in to process effects that have been created with a newer version. Similarly, if you transfer projects between systems, an effect created with a newer version of a plug-in will not work on a system that has an older version installed.

Assigning Multiple Tracks in Plug-in Effects

Some plug-in effects can take an arbitrary number of tracks as input. Your system allows you to choose the number of video inputs from the AVX Optional Inputs dialog box.

For more information on the multiple-track capabilities of a plug-in, see the documentation for that plug-in.

To assign multiple tracks to a plug-in effect by using the AVX Optional Inputs dialog box:

1. Drag the plug-in icon to the Timeline.

2. When the AVX Optional Inputs dialog box appears, select the number of video inputs you want from the Number of Tracks pop-up menu, and then click OK.

For more information on nested effects, see “Nesting Effects” on page 224.

Using AVX Plug-in Controls

AVX plug-ins use a variety of different interfaces that give you control over the effects. Some plug-ins use custom interfaces that appear in their own dialog boxes. Others use some combination of controls that appear within the Effect Editor. These controls might include standard Avid controls familiar from Avid effects, custom controls designed by Avid for use by plug-in vendors, and custom controls designed by the plug-in vendors themselves.

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Accessing an AVX Custom Interface

If an AVX plug-in has a custom interface, you access that interface from the Effect Editor.

To access an AVX plug-in’s custom interface:

t Click the Other Options button in the Effect Editor.

The AVX plug-in’s custom interface appears.

Using Third-Party Plug-in Effects

Custom AVX Controls in the Effect Editor

Dialog boxes that appear as part of an AVX plug-in’s custom interface are modal dialog boxes. If you move one of these dialog boxes, the screen behind the dialog box will not redraw. To restore your screen, close the dialog box.

This section introduces some of the custom controls that might appear in the Effect Editor for an AVX plug-in effect. For more information on using these controls, and other controls specific to individual effects, see the documentation for the plug-in.

Some plug-in effects allow you to adjust an image by using controls that appear as overlays, such as handles and wire frames, in the Effect Preview monitor. You access these overlays by clicking the Outline/Path button at the bottom of the Effect Editor. In some cases, you can then access additional controls by clicking buttons on the right side of the Effect Editor.

The following Effect Editor parameters, which are not available in standard Avid effects, are available to some AVX plug-in effects:

• The Thumbwheel is a slider that provides a window on a wide range of values and allows precise control over increments.

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Chapter 1 Preparing to Work with Effects

• The Angle parameter category allows you to manipulate an effect’s angle or direction by dragging within a graphic representation of a circle to alter the angle or direction value. Values can be positive or negative and are not limited to a single 360

Troubleshooting AVX Plug-Ins

This section describes problems that you might encounter with AVX plug-ins and makes suggestions for possible solutions or sources for more information.

If a plug-in does not work as expected and the following suggestions do not solve the problem, contact the plug-in vendor.

rotation.

Plug-in Does Not Appear in the Effect Palette

AVX plug-ins have a plug icon in the Effect Palette and in the Timeline. If the plug icon does not appear in the Effect Palette after installation, the plug-in might be in the wrong folder. For information on locating the AVX_Plug-Ins folder on a Windows system, see “Locating the AVX

Plug-Ins Folder (Windows Only)” on page 40.

Plug-in Does Not Load

AVX plug-ins might not load correctly for a variety of reasons. In particular, even though it is installed correctly in the AVX_Plug-Ins folder, a plug-in might require supporting files (for example, .dll files) that are missing from your system or are installed in the wrong location.

If a correctly located plug-in does not load, check the plug-in documentation for information on required supporting files.

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Avid Xpress DV Cannot Render the Plug-In

If Avid Xpress DV cannot render the plug-in, possible causes include the following:

• The plug-in has expired.

• The plug-in’s application key is missing or damaged.

Some plug-ins write more information about the failure to the Console window. Also, some plug-ins might report the problem in a message box.

Blank Effect Icons in the Timeline

AVX plug-ins have a plug icon in the Effect Palette and in the Timeline. If the effect icon in the Timeline is blank, Avid Xpress DV could not find the plug-in.

To identify a plug-in that is missing or misplaced:

t Open the Console window (choose Console from the Tools menu), and

look for the message “Can’t find effect.”

Using Third-Party Plug-in Effects

The message identifies the plug-in that Avid Xpress DV cannot locate. You can then reinstall the plug-in in your AVX_Plug-Ins folder and restart Avid Xpress DV.

Missing Effect Categories in the Effect Palette

If you cannot see the plug-in categories in the Effect Palette, you might have an incorrect version of the AVXLibrary or the plug-ins might not have been installed correctly. In this case, check the Console window for a message that states that AVX is disabled. If it is not disabled, quit the Avid Xpress DV application, reinstall the plug-ins, and restart the application.

If the message in the Console window states that AVX is disabled, call Avid Customer Support to determine whether you need a new version of the AVXLibrary.

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Chapter 1 Preparing to Work with Effects

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Chapter 2

Basics of Effects Editing

This chapter explains how to create basic transition and single-layer segment effects.

• Deconstructing Effects

• Applying Effects to a Sequence

• Deleting Effects in a Sequence

• Using the Fade Effect Button

• Working with Transition Effects

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Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing

Deconstructing Effects

Breaking down existing effects into their basic elements provides one good way to understand how Avid Xpress DV builds effects. By learning how the various pieces fit together, and how Avid Xpress DV allows you to manipulate them, you can begin to construct new effects from these building blocks.

The sequence depicted in the following Timeline contains a series of effects that cover all the basic techniques — from simple dissolves to nested layers.

Layered background elements

Layered foreground elements

Imported title elements set in motion with a wipe effect

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The sequence includes both transition and segment effects applied horizontally, vertically, and nested within video tracks. The callouts summarize deconstructed elements and list the sections of this guide that describe them in more detail.

Deconstructing an Effects Sequence

Deconstructing Effects

Imported graphic used as a wipe:

See “Working with Imported Graphics and Animation”

on page 221.

Effect template applied repeatedly to crop and position foreground images on V2:

See “Applying an Effect Template” on

page 152.

Nested segments add more layers to the foreground track: See “Nesting

Effects” on page 224.

Submaster segment, created from collapsed layers, forms the background on V1: See

“Submaster Editing” on page 231.

Various effect parameters are adjusted throughout to soften, distort, or position images:

See “Using the Effect Editor” on page 86.

Title graphics imported as Matte Key effects: See

“Working with Imported Graphics and Animation” on page 221.

Keyed titles are faded in and out: See

“Using the Fade Effect Button” on page 58.

Dissolve sequence forms the foreground on V2:

See “Applying an Effect to Multiple Transitions” on page 53 and “Working with Transition Effects” on page 59.

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Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing

Applying Effects to a Sequence

This section explains how to apply an effect to a sequence in the Timeline. You can apply an effect to:

• One transition or segment on a single video layer

• Multiple transitions or segments

The effect type (transition or segment) determines where you can place the effect in the sequence. For an explanation of the effect types, see “Effect

Types” on page 28. For information on individual effects, see “2D Effects” on page 349.

After you apply an effect, the next step is to adjust the effect’s parameters. To understand how to adjust the effect parameters, see “Understanding

Effect Parameters” on page 91.

Applying an Effect to a Single Transition or Segment

This section describes how to add a single transition or segment effect to a single video layer by dragging an effect from the Effect Palette or by double-clicking a segment or transition.

You can also apply several of the most common transition effects, such as the Dissolve effect, by clicking the Quick Transition button. For more information, see “Using the Quick Transition Button” on page 63.

Dragging an Effect from the Effect Palette

To apply an effect to a single transition or segment:

1. Create a sequence in the Composer monitor, using standard Avid editing procedures.

For information about editing a sequence, see the chapter “First Edits” in your user’s guide.

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Applying Effects to a Sequence

2. Open the Effect Palette by doing one of the following:

t In the Project window, click the Effects tab. t From the Tools menu, choose Effect Palette.

For an explanation of the Effect Palette, see “Using the Effect Palette”

on page 31.

3. Click the effect icon in the Effect Palette, drag it to the segment or transition in the Timeline, and release the mouse button.

The effect icon appears in the Timeline as shown in the following example.

Drag the effect icon from the Effect Palette to the sequence.

Effect icon

If the effect is a transition effect and the sequence does not have enough incoming or outgoing media to apply that effect, a dialog box appears. For more information, see “Sizing the Effect to Fit the Media” on page 74.

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Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing

Double-Clicking an Effect Icon in the Effect Palette

If the effect is a segment effect, one segment at a time is highlighted as you drag the effect within the Timeline. If the effect is a transition effect, one transition at a time is highlighted as you drag the effect within the Timeline. Some effects are both transition and segment effects; when you drag such an effect within the Timeline, both transitions and segments are highlighted.

To apply an effect to a single segment:

1. Create a sequence in the Composer monitor, using standard Avid editing procedures.

For information about editing a sequence, see the chapter “First Edits” in your user’s guide.

2. Open the Effect Palette by doing one of the following:

t In the Project window, click the Effects tab. t From the Tools menu, choose Effect Palette.

3. Click either of the Segment Mode buttons (Extract/Splice-in or Lift/Overwrite) below the Timeline.

4. Click the segment to which you want to add the effect.

5. Double-click the effect icon in the Effect Palette. The effect icon appears in the Timeline.

To apply an effect to a single transition in Trim mode:

1. Create a sequence in the Composer monitor, using standard Avid editing procedures.

2. Open the Effect Palette by doing one of the following:

t In the Project window, click the Effects tab. t From the Tools menu, choose Effect Palette.

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Applying Effects to a Sequence

3. Click the transition where you want to add the effect.

4. Double-click the effect icon in the Effect Palette. The effect icon appears in the Timeline.

This procedure for adding a transition effect works only in Trim mode. See

“Creating a Dissolve in Trim Mode” on page 61.

Applying an Effect to Multiple Transitions

To apply an effect to multiple transitions:

1. If there is not already an effect on one of the transitions, add a transition effect. Avid Xpress DV allows you to perform this procedure only if one of the transitions already has an effect on it.

2. Choose Effect Editor from the Tools menu.

3. Click the transition effect described in step 1.

4. If the Effect Editor is blank, click the Effect Editor to display the information for the transition effect.

5. Click above the Timeline, and begin dragging to activate a selection box. Continue to drag down and either to the left or right to include additional transitions in the selection.

Selection box

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Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing

6. Release the mouse button when you have lassoed all the transitions you want.

The transitions that you selected are highlighted, and the position indicator moves to the first transition.

7. If the transitions where you want to apply the effect are not contiguous, Shift+click any transition to deselect it.

8. Open the Effect Palette by doing one of the following:

t In the Project window, click the Effects tab. t From the Tools menu, choose Effect Palette.

9. Double-click the icon for the effect that you want to apply to the transitions.

The effect appears on the highlighted transitions in the Timeline.

If the sequence does not have enough incoming or outgoing media to apply the transition effect, a dialog box appears. For more information, see

“Sizing the Effect to Fit the Media” on page 74.

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Applying an Effect to Multiple Segments

You can apply an effect to multiple segments on the same video layer or on multiple video layers in a single step. The following procedure describes selecting multiple segments in the same video layer. You can also use this procedure to select segments on multiple layers.

Applying Effects to a Sequence

Selection box

You cannot apply effects to multiple segments while in Trim mode.

To apply an effect to multiple segments on the same video layer:

1. Click above the Timeline and to the left of the leftmost segment that you want to select, and begin dragging to the right and down to activate a selection box.

2. Continue to drag the selection box to the right until you lasso the rightmost segment that you want to select.

3. Release the mouse button. Avid Xpress DV highlights the segments you selected.

4. If the segments where you want to apply the effect are not contiguous, Shift+click a segment to deselect it. You can also Shift+click to add one or more segments.

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Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing

5. Open the Effect Palette by doing one of the following:

t In the Project window, click the Effects tab. t From the Tools menu, choose Effect Palette.

6. Double-click the effect’s icon that you want to apply to the segments. Avid Xpress DV applies the effect to the highlighted segments in the

Timeline.

Deleting Effects in a Sequence

You can delete transition effects from a sequence in the Timeline at any time. You can delete segment effects from a sequence in the Timeline at any time except when you are in Trim mode. Use the following procedures to either delete a single effect from a sequence or delete effects in multiple segments.

Deleting a Single Effect

To delete a single effect:

1. Move the position indicator to the Timeline segment containing the effect’s icon.

The track containing the effect is selected.

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Deleting Effects in a Sequence

2. If multiple tracks contain effects at the same position in the Timeline, select only the track where the effect to be deleted resides.

In this example, only track V3 is selected.

If you delete a segment effect and the segment contains a transition effect, the transition effect will be deleted as well, because the transition effect resides “on top of” the segment effect. If necessary, you will have to reapply the transition effect.

3. Delete the effect by doing one of the following: t If the Effect Editor is not active, click the Remove Effect button in

the Tool palette. For information on opening the Tool palette, see “Using the Tool

Palette” in the chapter “Viewing and Marking Footage” in the user’s guide.

t When the Effect Editor is active, select the effect and press the

Delete key. To open the Effect Editor, choose Effect Editor from the Tools

menu.

t In Trim mode (for transition effects only), either press the Delete

key or click the Remove Effect button. For information on entering Trim mode, see “Entering Trim

Mode” in the chapter “Working in Trim Mode” in the user’s guide.

When you delete an effect from a sequence, Avid Xpress DV does not delete the associated media file. To delete the effect’s media file, you must manually remove it from the drive. Avid Xpress DV operates this way so that you will be able to undo the deletion of an effect or undo the change you made to an effect. To delete an effect’s media file, see “Managing

Effect Media Files” on page 188.

The effect is removed.

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Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing

Deleting Multiple Transition Effects

To delete multiple transition effects:

1. Shift+click each transition effect you want to delete.

2. Click the Remove Effect button, or press the Delete key.

Deleting Multiple Segment Effects

To delete multiple segment effects:

1. Click either of the Segment Mode buttons (Extract/Splice-in or Lift/Overwrite) below the Timeline.

2. Shift+click each segment that contains a segment effect you want to delete.

3. Click the Remove Effect button, or press the Delete key.

Using the Fade Effect Button

You can use the Fade Effect button to fade segment effects quickly and easily. A dialog box appears that allows you to enter the number of frames to fade up and fade down.

The Fade Effect feature automatically creates keyframes for the effect. You can access the keyframes in the Effect Editor.

To fade one or more segment effects in a sequence:

1. Make a selection in the Timeline by doing one of the following: t To fade a single segment effect, move the position indicator to the

segment.

t To fade multiple segment effects, click either of the Segment

Mode buttons (Extract/Splice-in or Lift/Overwrite) below the Timeline; then Shift+click the segments.

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Working with Transition Effects

2. Click the Fade Effect button in the Tool palette. For information on opening the Tool palette, see “Using the Tool

Palette” in the chapter “Viewing and Marking Footage” in the user’s guide.

The Fade Effect dialog box appears.

3. In the Fade Effect dialog box, type the number of frames to fade up and fade down, and click OK.

You can immediately view the Fade effect by playing the segment or segments.

Working with Transition Effects

You apply a transition effect to the cut point between two clips on the same video track. You can adjust the alignment and duration of a transition effect. Depending on the specific effect, other effect parameters might also be available.

Transition effects are included in all effect categories in the Effect Palette, except the Image effect category. For an explanation of the transition effects in each effect category, see Chapter 9.

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Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing

Applying a Dissolve Effect

One of the most common transition effects is a dissolve. Avid Xpress DV has four methods you can use to apply the Dissolve effect:

• Select the Dissolve effect from the Effect Palette. For more information, see “Using the Effect Palette to Create a

Dissolve Effect” on page 60.

• In Trim mode, use the Transition parameters to create a dissolve. For more information, see “Creating a Dissolve in Trim Mode” on

page 61.

• Use the Head Fade or Tail Fade button. For more information, see “Adding Dissolves with the Head Fade and

Tail Fade Buttons” on page 62.

• Click the Quick Transition button in the Tool palette. You can also use the Quick Transition button as a fast method for

creating and adjusting several other common transition effects. For more information, see “Using the Quick Transition Button” on

page 63.

Using the Effect Palette to Create a Dissolve Effect

To apply a Dissolve effect using the Effect Palette:

1. Create a sequence in the Composer monitor using standard editing procedures. For information about editing a sequence, see the chapter “First Edits” in the user’s guide.

2. Open the Effect Palette by doing one of the following:

t In the Project window, click the Effects tab. t From the Tools menu, choose Effect Palette.

3. Click the Blend category.

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Working with Transition Effects

4. Drag the Dissolve Effect icon to the transition in the Timeline, and release the mouse button.

The Dissolve Effect icon appears in the Timeline.

Creating a Dissolve in Trim Mode

Transition Effect Alignment button

Transition Effect Alignment pop-up menu

If the sequence does not have enough incoming or outgoing media to apply a transition effect, a dialog box appears. See “Sizing the Effect to Fit the

Media” on page 74.

You can create a Dissolve effect in Trim mode using the Transition parameters displayed in the Effect Editor and in the Composer monitor.

To create a Dissolve effect using the Transition parameters:

1. Click a transition in the Timeline while in Trim mode.

2. In the Transition Effect Duration box in the Effect Editor or in the Composer monitor, type the dissolve’s duration.

This adds the Dissolve effect at the transition and a Dissolve effect in the Timeline.

Transition Effect Duration box

The Duration setting determines the duration format above the Composer monitor, for example, seconds:frames. For more information, see the chapter “Working in Trim Mode” in the user’s guide.

3. Click the Transition Effect Alignment button, and select the effect’s position relative to the cut point from the pop-up menu.

For an explanation of the Transition Effect Alignment pop-up menu selections, see “Transition Parameters” on page 348.

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Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing

Adding Dissolves with the Head Fade and Tail Fade Buttons

You can use the Head Fade button and Tail Fade button to add dissolves on one or more video tracks (or fades on one or more audio tracks).

You can map the Head Fade button and Tail Fade button from the Command palette to a key on your keyboard or to an existing button location such as the Tool palette. For more information, see “Mapping User-Selectable Buttons” in the chapter “Using Basic Tools” in the user’s guide.

To add dissolves using the Head Fade and Tail Fade buttons:

1. Move the position indicator to a clip where you want the dissolve to end or begin.

For example, if you move the position indicator ten frames after the beginning of the clip and then use the Head Fade button, the system creates a ten-frame dissolve that lasts from the beginning of the clip to the location of the position indicator.

2. Select the tracks on which you want to create dissolves.

If you choose more than one track, the system creates dissolves of appropriate lengths for each track, as shown in the following illustration.

Before After — Two dissolves of different

lengths are created on the two tracks.

3. Choose Command Palette from the Tools menu.

4. Click the FX tab, and then click Active Palette.

5. Click the Head Fade or the Tail Fade button. The dissolves appear in the Timeline. If a dissolve begins or ends at the

edit point between two clips, the dissolve crosses between the two clips. Otherwise the dissolve is a fade from or to black.

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Working with Transition Effects

6. (Option) If, for any selected track, there is insufficient source media to create a dissolve of the length you specified with the position indicator, a message box appears.

Do one of the following: t Click Size to Fit.

The system creates the longest dissolve possible. For more information on sizing effects to fit available media, see “Sizing the

Effect to Fit the Media” on page 74.

t Click Skip Track.

The system does not create a dissolve on the track with insufficient source material but does create dissolves on any other selected tracks with sufficient source material.

t Click Cancel.

The system does not create any dissolves.

Using the Quick Transition Button

You can create common transition effects by clicking the Quick Transition button.

This button allows you to apply the following transition effects without using the Effect Palette:

•Dissolve

• Fade to Color

• Fade from Color

• Dip to Color

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Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing

You can choose to add the same transition effect to multiple transitions at the same time by marking IN and OUT points in your sequence that select all the transitions to which you want to apply the effect. When you click the Quick Transition button, the Quick Transition dialog box will contain a check box for Apply to All Transitions (IN -> OUT). For more information, see “Applying Effects to Multiple Transitions Using the

Quick Transition Button” on page 67.

Creating an Effect Using the Quick Transition Button

To create an effect using the Quick Transition button:

1. Move the position indicator to the transition in the Timeline.

2. Click the Quick Transition button in the Tool palette. For information on opening the Tool palette, see “Using the Tool

Palette” in the chapter “Viewing and Marking Footage” in the user’s guide.

The Quick Transition dialog box appears.

Graphical display of media and effect

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Working with Transition Effects

The dialog box includes a graphical display of the outgoing media and incoming media, with the effect icon applied to the transition. For more information, see “Understanding the Graphical Display in the

Quick Transition Dialog Box” on page 70.

3. Choose a transition effect from the Add pop-up menu.

For an explanation of individual effects shown in the menu, see “Blend

Effects” on page 350.

When you save a Dissolve effect template into a bin named Quick Transitions, the effect template appears in the Add pop-up menu. See

“Using an Effect Template” on page 150.

When you choose a color transition with Quick Transition, the default color is black. You must enter Effect mode to choose another color. For more information, see “Using the Effect Editor” on page 86.

4. Select the transition duration by doing one of the following:

t Type the duration in frames in the Duration text box. t Click either the left or right edge of the Dissolve Effect icon, and

drag it to change the duration. For more information, see

“Understanding the Graphical Display in the Quick Transition Dialog Box” on page 70.

The graphical display changes — the size of the effect icon gets smaller or larger, and the numbers in the Duration and Start text boxes change — to reflect the new duration.

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5. Adjust the effect’s alignment relative to the cut point in one of the following ways:

t Choose an alignment from the Position pop-up menu to have the

effect end at the cut point, center on the cut point, or start at the cut point.

t Choose Custom from the Position pop-up menu, and then type a

number in the Start text box to specify how many frames before the cut point you want the effect to begin.

Avid Xpress DV automatically selects the Custom option in the Position pop-up menu when you click in the graphical display.

t Click inside the effect in the graphical display, and drag it to

position the effect with respect to the cut point.

t Click one of the alignment buttons below the graphical display.

For more information on the graphical display options, see

“Understanding the Graphical Display in the Quick Transition Dialog Box” on page 70.

Avid Xpress DV positions the effect, updates the graphical display to show the new position of the effect, and updates the value in the Start text box.

If you select an alignment for which there is not enough media, Avid Xpress DV comes as close as it can to the alignment you requested.

6. Click Target Drive, and from the pop-up menu choose a drive on which to store the effect if you choose to render it.

The Effect Source Drive is the drive where the media on the outgoing shot of a transition resides.

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7. (Option) If you have IN and OUT points marked in your sequence, the Quick Transition dialog box contains a check box for Apply to All Transitions (IN -> OUT). Select this option to apply the same effect to all transitions between the IN and OUT points. Deselect this option to apply the effect only to the transition to which you have moved the position indicator.

8. Do one of the following:

t To add the effect without rendering it, click Add. t To add the effect and render it, click Add and Render.

Avid Xpress DV adds the effect to the selected transition in the sequence, or, if you selected Apply to All Transitions (IN -> OUT), Avid Xpress DV adds the effect to all transitions between the IN and OUT points.

Applying Effects to Multiple Transitions Using the Quick Transition Button

You can select multiple transitions by marking IN and OUT points and then apply an effect from the Quick Transition dialog box to all the selected transitions at once.

To apply an effect to multiple transitions using the Quick Transition button:

1. Mark IN and OUT points around the transitions to which you want to add the effect.

2. Make sure that the Record Track buttons in the Track Selector panel are selected for the tracks to which you want to add the effect.

3. (Option) If you want to see a particular transition in the graphical display of the Quick Transition dialog box, move the position indicator to that transition.

The graphical display in the Quick Transition dialog box always shows the transition closest to the position indicator. When you define an effect to apply to multiple transitions, the positioning details of any one transition might not be useful since you need to create an effect that will fit all the transitions. However, you might want to choose one transition as a model.

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Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing

For example, you might use the transition with the least amount of handle as a model. If your effect fits that transition, it should fit all the others you have selected.

4. Click the Quick Transition button. The Quick Transition dialog box appears.

Apply to All Transitions check box

5. Choose a transition effect from the Add pop-up menu.

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Working with Transition Effects

For an explanation of individual effects shown in the menu, see “Blend

Effects” on page 350.

When you save a Dissolve effect template into a bin named Quick Transitions, the effect template appears in the Add pop-up menu. See

“Using an Effect Template” on page 150.

6. Select the transition duration by doing one of the following:

t Type the duration in frames in the Duration text box. t Click either the left or right edge of the Dissolve Effect icon and

drag it to change the duration. For more information, see

“Understanding the Graphical Display in the Quick Transition Dialog Box” on page 70.

The graphical display changes — the size of the effect icon gets smaller or larger, and the numbers in the Duration and Start text boxes change — to reflect the new duration.

7. Adjust the effect’s position relative to the cut point in one of the following ways:

t Choose an option from the Position pop-up menu to have the effect

end at the cut point, center on the cut point, or start at the cut point.

t Choose Custom from the Position pop-up menu, and then type a

number in the Start text box to specify how many frames before the cut point you want the effect to begin.

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Avid Xpress DV automatically selects the Custom option in the Position pop-up menu when you click in the graphical display.

t Click inside the effect in the graphical display, and drag it to

position the effect with respect to the cut point.

t Click one of the alignment buttons below the graphical display.

For more information on the graphical display options, see

“Understanding the Graphical Display in the Quick Transition Dialog Box” on page 70.

Avid Xpress DV positions the effect, updates the graphical display to show the new position of the effect, and updates the value in the Start text box.

8. Click Target Drive, and from the pop-menu choose a drive on which to store the effect if you choose to render it.

The Effect Source Drive is the drive where the media on the outgoing shot of a transition resides.

9. Select Apply to All Transitions (IN -> OUT).

10. Do one of the following:

t To add the effect without rendering it, click Add. t To add the effect and render it, click Add and Render.

Avid Xpress DV adds the selected effect to all the transitions between the marked IN and OUT points on the selected tracks in the sequence.

Understanding the Graphical Display in the Quick Transition Dialog Box

If there is not enough incoming or outgoing media material to apply the effect to a transition, a dialog box appears. For more information, see

“Sizing the Effect to Fit the Media” on page 74.

The graphical display of the transition effect that appears in the Quick Transition dialog box allows you to control the length and position of the effect with frame accuracy simply by dragging. Using the three alignment buttons, you can also quickly reset the position of the effect.

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Working with Transition Effects

Features of the Graphical Display

The following illustration shows the graphical display in the Quick Transition dialog box.

Frames of incoming media available for the effect

Outgoing media

Transition effect

Alignment buttonsHandle on incoming media

Handle on outgoing media

Frames of outgoing media available for the effect

Incoming media

The graphical display shows the following:

• The outgoing (A) and incoming (B) media for the transition to which you are applying the effect. The amount of handle that is available for each piece of media is clearly indicated both as a darker area on the graphic itself and as a number of frames.

• The transition effect that you are applying. The display shows the effect icon and indicates the length and position of the effect in relation to the media.

• Three alignment buttons. These buttons appear when you choose Custom from the Position pop-up menu or click in the graphical display. They allow you to quickly reposition the effect so that it either ends at the cut point, is centered on the cut point, or starts at the cut point.

Avid Xpress DV draws and scales the graphical display so that it represents the relative size and position of the transition effect in relation to the media. For example, in the illustration above, the effect is 30 frames long while the incoming handle is 33 frames long. The effect is therefore shown slightly shorter than the incoming handle.

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Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing

Adjusting the Effect by Dragging

You can control the length or position of the transition effect by dragging in the graphical display.

To adjust the length of the effect:

1. Do one of the following: t To adjust the length of the effect without changing its start point,

move the pointer over the right edge of the effect.

t To adjust the length of the effect without changing its end point,

move the pointer over the left edge of the effect.

The pointer changes to a resizing arrow.

Resizing arrow

2. Do one of the following:

t Drag away from the effect icon in the center to lengthen the effect. t Drag toward the effect icon in the center to shorten the effect.

The graphical display and the Duration text box update to reflect your adjustment. If you are dragging the left edge of the effect, the Start text box also updates to reflect the changed start point.

To adjust the position of the effect:

1. Move the pointer inside the effect. The pointer changes to a hand.

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Working with Transition Effects

2. Drag the effect to adjust its position with respect to the cut point. The graphical display updates to show the new effect position, and the

Start text box updates to show the new number of frames before the cut point.

You cannot drag an effect beyond the ends of the handles on the media because Avid Xpress DV cannot create a transition unless both incoming and outgoing media are available for every frame of the transition. You also cannot drag an effect beyond the cut point.

Repositioning the Effect with the Alignment Buttons

You can use the alignment buttons to quickly reposition the effect so that it either ends at the cut, is centered on the cut, or starts at the cut. The buttons have the same effect as the Ending at Cut, Centered on Cut, and Starting at Cut commands in the Position pop-up menu.

Centered on Cut Starting at CutEnding at Cut

To reposition the effect with an alignment button:

t Click one of the following buttons:

- Ending at Cut, to have the effect end at the cut point

- Centered on Cut, to center the effect on the cut point

- Starting at Cut, to have the effect begin at the cut point

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Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing

Sizing the Effect to Fit the Media

When you select a transition effect from the Effect Palette and not enough source media exists to apply the effect, the Insufficient Source dialog box appears.

The dialog box shows a graphical display that indicates whether the source that has insufficient material is Media A (outgoing footage), Media B (incoming footage), or both.

To automatically size the effect to fit the media:

t Click Size to Fit.

Avid Xpress DV sets the duration of the effect to fit the available media. If you have selected an alignment, Avid Xpress DV attempts to preserve it.

To change the alignment or duration of the transition effect, see “Creating a

Dissolve in Trim Mode” on page 61.

Although the graphical display in the Insufficient Source dialog box is similar to the graphical display in the Quick Transition dialog box, you cannot adjust an effect by dragging in the Insufficient Source dialog box.

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Trimming a Transition Effect

Avid Xpress DV lets you do the following:

• Trim a transition effect, using the standard transition trim procedures. For more information, see the chapter “Working in Trim Mode” in the user’s guide.

• Customize a transition effect, such as changing the fade color. For a description of how to change effect parameters, see Chapter 3.

Working with Transition Effects

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Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing

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Chapter 3

Customizing Effects

After you have created an effect and have applied it to a transition or segment in your sequence, you can adjust its appearance and operation in a variety of ways. This chapter explains how to customize effects by using the Effect Editor and the Effect Preview monitor.

• Opening the Effect Editor

• Customizing the Effect Display

• Changing Position in an Effect

• Replacing an Effect in Effect Mode

• Using the Effect Editor

• Understanding Keyframes

• Using Standard Keyframes

• Working with Advanced Keyframes

• Manipulating Effects Directly

• Using an Effect Template

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Opening the Effect Editor

After you add an effect to a sequence, you must open the Effect Editor to change the parameters of the effect. When you open the Effect Editor, the Composer monitor becomes the Effect Preview monitor.

To open the Effect Editor:

1. Move the position indicator to the effect’s icon in the Timeline.

2. Do one of the following:

t Choose Effect Editor from the Tools menu. t Choose Effects Editing from the Toolset menu. t Click the Effect Mode button in the Timeline toolbar.

The Effect Editor opens and displays the values for the current effect in the window. At the same time, the Composer monitor becomes the Effect Preview monitor.

Both the Effect Editor and the Effect Preview Monitor toolbar display buttons for controlling and adjusting the effect. For more information, see “Effect Editor Controls” on page 86 and “Understanding the Effect

Preview Monitor” on page 79.

Effect Editor

Timeline

Effect Preview monitor

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Customizing the Effect Display

If the Effect Editor is blank, click an effect icon in the Timeline and then click in the Effect Editor.

Customizing the Effect Display

You can adjust the appearance and function of various aspects of the Effect display by resizing windows and images, by displaying tracking information, or by displaying guidelines for the placement of effects and titles, as described in this section.

Understanding the Effect Preview Monitor

The Effect Preview monitor displays the selected effect in the sequence where the position indicator is located in the Timeline. The effect’s position bar, located directly below the Effect Preview monitor, represents only the selected effect, not the entire sequence.

Tracking information

Length of effect

Current position in effect

Effect Preview monitor

Pop-up slider for expanding the position bar

Effect Preview Monitor toolbar

Effect’s position indicator (blue line)

Effect’s position bar

Keyframe

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If the effect you expect does not appear in the Effect Preview monitor, make sure that you have selected the Record Track Monitor button in the Track Selector panel. If a black frame appears in the Effect Preview monitor, the position indicator might be at a location in the Timeline where an effect has not been applied to the sequence.

Effect Preview Monitor Toolbar Buttons

The Effect Preview Monitor toolbar has buttons for controlling effect position and adjustment. Tabl e 1 describes the buttons in the toolbar that you use to play and adjust the effect.

Table 1 Effect Preview Monitor Toolbar Buttons

Button Description

Rewind Places the position indicator at the first frame of the effect.

Fast Forward Places the position indicator at the last frame of the effect.

Add Keyframe Creates a keyframe at the current position of the position indicator

in the effect’s position bar.

Alt+click (Windows) or Option+click (Macintosh) to delete the selected keyframe.

Step Backward Moves the position indicator one frame backward.

Step Forward Moves the position indicator one frame forward.

Play Plays the effect from the current position in the effect’s position

bar. Click again or press the space bar to stop play.

Rendered effects play at full speed. Most unrendered effects play at full speed when Real-Time Effects is enabled. Effects play at single-frame rate in other circumstances. For more information, see “Real-Time Preview of Video Effects” on page 159.

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Customizing the Effect Display

Table 1 Effect Preview Monitor Toolbar Buttons (Continued)

Button Description

Play Preview Plays back a wire-frame preview of an unrendered effect.

Play Loop Plays back the current effect repeatedly in a loop. Click again or

press the space bar to stop play.

Reduce Reduces the size of the image in the Effect Preview monitor.

Enlarge Enlarges the size of the image in the Effect Preview monitor.

Understanding the Tracking Information

The two boxes above the Effect Preview monitor display the length of the effect in seconds and frames and the current position in the effect’s position bar. If you are working with two-field media, the current position display indicates the field that appears in the monitor. The current position display ends with .1 for the first field of a frame and with .2 for the second field. These boxes replace the name of the sequence that appears in this position in the Composer monitor.

Displaying the Safe Title and Safe Action Guidelines

Many effects can utilize the outer edges of the viewing screen area. If you are editing material that will be viewed on screens with more limited viewing areas, such as standard televisions, you can use the Safe Title and Safe Action options to provide visual guidelines in the Effect Preview monitor that replicate the actual viewable area on a standard television screen.

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For example, you can use the Safe Title option as a template for the area in which you want the effect to operate. In this way, you can avoid the appearance of the effect floating off into a nonviewable area of a standard television screen.

To display the Safe Title/Action guidelines in the Effect Preview monitor, do one of the following:

t Click the Grid button in the Tool palette.

For information on opening the Tool palette, see “Using the Tool Palette” in the chapter “Viewing and Marking Footage” in the user’s guide.

t Click the Grid button in the Effect Editor.

To open the Effect Editor, choose Effect Editor from the Tools menu.

Two outlined boxes appear in the Effect Preview monitor. The inner box is the safe title area. All text and objects should remain within the inner box. The outer box is the safe action area for video display.

Safe title area

Safe action area

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Customizing the Effect Display

To display the safe title and safe action areas in the Source pop-up monitor:

t Click the Grid button in the Tool palette of the Source pop-up monitor.

You can also display Safe Title/Action guidelines in the Title tool. For more information, see “Displaying Safe Title or Safe Action Guidelines” on

page 247.

Moving an Enlarged Image in the Effect Preview Monitor

You can use the Enlarge and Reduce buttons in the Effect Preview Monitor toolbar to zoom in or out on an image in the Effect Preview monitor.

This allows you to view parts of an image in detail or to view parts of effects and effect controls that extend beyond the limits of the standardsize image. For more information, see “Understanding the Effect Preview

Monitor” on page 79.

When you use the Enlarge button to increase the size of the image in the Effect Preview monitor, you cannot view the entire frame all at once. When you are creating an effect that requires great detail, you can reposition the enlarged frame in the monitor to view the sections that need your attention.

This feature applies only to an enlarged image in the Effect Preview monitor, not to a standard-size or reduced image.

To move an enlarged image within the Effect Preview monitor:

1. Click within the boundaries of the Effect Preview monitor.

2. Press and hold Ctrl+Alt (Windows) or k+Option (Macintosh). The pointer changes to a hand.

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3. Drag the hand in any direction to reposition the image within the Effect Preview monitor.

Changing Position in an Effect

Zoom ratio

Pointer

To change your position in an effect, do one of the following:

t Drag the position indicator in the effect’s position bar. t Type the timecode in the same way you do when you are editing a

sequence. For more information, see the chapter “Viewing and Marking Footage” in the user’s guide.

The type of timecode you enter (master timecode or absolute timecode) depends on the tracking information you are displaying. The position information boxes above the Effect Preview monitor update as you change position.

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Replacing an Effect in Effect Mode

While in Effect mode, you can replace an existing effect.

To replace an effect:

1. Open the Effect Palette by doing one of the following:

t In the Project window, click the Effects tab. t From the Tools menu, choose Effect Palette.

The Effect Palette opens.

2. Click an effect category in the left side of the Effect Palette.

3. Do one of the following: t Click the icon for the new effect in the right side of the Effect

Palette, and drag the icon to the Timeline. To replace an existing effect, move the new effect’s icon on top of the existing effect’s icon.

t Click the icon for the new effect in the right side of the Effect

Palette, and drag the icon to the Effect Preview monitor.

Replacing an Effect in Effect Mode

t Select the effect in the Timeline, and double-click the new effect’s

icon in the Effect Palette.

4. Set the applicable effect parameters in the Effect Editor.

Some effects cannot replace other effects. For example, some segment effects, such as the Mask effect, cannot replace transition effects. In addition, two-layer effects, such as wipes, cannot replace three-layer effects, such as matte keys.

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Chapter 3 Customizing Effects

Using the Effect Editor

The Effect Editor contains buttons that provide controls for effect adjustment and parameter controls that allow you to set values to define the appearance of an effect. The following sections explain how to use Effect Editor buttons and parameter controls.

The Effect Preview Monitor toolbar also contains buttons that you use to adjust and preview effects. For more information, see “Effect Preview

Monitor Toolbar Buttons” on page 80.

When you are working with the Picture-in-Picture effect you can expand the Effect Editor to display keyframe graphs. You can then create and adjust independent keyframes for each keyframeable effect parameter. For more information, see “Working with Advanced Keyframes” on page 102.

Effect Editor Controls

This section describes the controls in the Effect Editor. Not all controls apply to each effect. If a control is not applicable, it does not appear in the Effect Editor for that effect.

The following illustration shows the location of controls within the Effect Editor. Table 2 describes each button in detail.

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Triangular opener

Parameter category

Sliders used to adjust parameters

Parameter name

Effect name

Using the Effect Editor

Other Options button

Effect icon

Reduce button Enlarge button

Dual Split button

Play Loop button Play button

Render Effect button

Outline/Path button

Grid button

Promote to Advanced Keyframes button

Transition Effect Alignment button

Transition Effect Duration box

Additional buttons appear in the bottom toolbar of the Effect Editor when you are working with keyframe graphs. For more information, see “Effect

Editor Controls for Advanced Keyframes” on page 105.

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Table 2 Effect Editor Controls

Button Location Description

Triangular opener Left side of

Effect Editor

Other Options Inside some

parameter categories

Render Effect Bottom of

Effect Editor

Outline/Path Bottom of

Effect Editor

Transition Effect Alignment

Transition Effect Duration box

Bottom of Effect Editor

Click to display or hide the parameter category. A downward-pointing triangle displays the parameter category; a right-pointing triangle displays only the parameter name.

Click to access additional parameters for some effects, including access to the Macintosh Color Picker or the Windows Color dialog box for color selection. For more information, see “Using the

Other Options Button to Access Parameters” on page 94.

Click to render the current effect.

Click to display a wire-frame path to illustrate the movement of an effect from the first keyframe through the last keyframe.

Click to open a pop-up menu with options for selecting the alignment of a transition effect relative to the cut point.

Click in this box to type a duration for the transition effect other than the duration displayed.

Promote to Advanced

Bottom of Effect Editor

Keyframes button

Reduce Right side of

Effect Editor

Promotes a Picture-in-Picture effect to advanced keyframes. Not available for other effects. For more information, see “Promoting Effects to Advanced

Keyframes” on page 103.

Reduces the size of the image in the Effect Preview monitor.

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Table 2 Effect Editor Controls (Continued)

Button Location Description

Using the Effect Editor

Enlarge Right side of

Effect Editor

Dual Split Right side of

Effect Editor

Play Loop Right side of

Effect Editor

Play Right side of

Effect Editor

Enlarges the size of the image in the Effect Preview monitor.

Click to divide the Effect Preview monitor in half, showing the image with and without the effect applied. Click again to remove.

Plays back the current effect repeatedly in a loop. Click again or press the space bar to stop play.

Time Preview of Video Effects” on page 159.

Plays the effect from the current position in the effect’s position bar. Click again or press the space bar to stop play.

Time Preview of Video Effects” on page 159.

Grid Right side of

Effect Editor

The Effect Preview Monitor toolbar also contains buttons that you use to adjust and preview effects. For more information, see “Understanding the

Effect Preview Monitor” on page 79.

Click to display the Safe Title and Safe Action guidelines.

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Chapter 3 Customizing Effects

Displaying an Effect’s Parameters in the Effect Editor

To display an effect’s parameters in the Effect Editor:

1. Move the position indicator to the effect’s icon in the Timeline.

2. Make sure that the Record Track button for the track that contains the effect is selected in the Track Selector panel.

3. (Option) If you are not already in Effect mode, choose Effect Editor from the Tools menu.

The Effect Editor opens. The name of the effect and its icon appear at the top of the Effect

Editor and the parameters that pertain to the effect appear in the Effect Editor.

Effect name

Other Options button

Effect icon

Parameter category

Triangular opener

Slider used to adjust parameter

Transition parameters

This example shows the Grid effect parameters.

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Understanding Effect Parameters

Effect parameters are values that define the appearance of an effect. For example, you can set parameters that control the size and position of a Picture-in-Picture effect.

Not all effect parameters apply to all effects. Parameters that do not apply to an effect do not appear in the Effect Editor for that effect. To determine which parameters pertain to an effect, refer to the effect’s description in

“2D Effects” on page 349.

Using the Effect Editor

If the position indicator is not on an effect’s icon in the Timeline, or if the track that contains the effect is not selected, then the Effect Editor is blank.

Effect parameters are either global or keyframeable. You adjust a global parameter once for the entire effect; its values cannot change over time. You can adjust keyframeable parameters once for the entire effect, or you can use the Effect Editor along with keyframes to adjust the parameter multiple times and change its value over time. For more information, see

“Global and Keyframeable Parameters” on page 319.

For most effects, a keyframe applies to every keyframeable effect parameter in the effect. If you are working with the Picture-in-Picture effect or 3D PIP effect, however, you can use keyframe graphs to create independent keyframes for each keyframeable effect parameter. This greatly increases your control of how the effect changes over time. For more information, see “Working with Advanced Keyframes” on page 102.

Parameter controls are grouped in parameter categories within the Effect Editor. For example, the Border parameter category includes all the controls that you can use to define the color and appearance of an effect border.

Several types of parameter controls might appear for a particular effect:

• Parameter sliders

• Parameter Enable buttons

• Parameter options that you select from Fast menus

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• Additional parameters that you access with the Other Options button

• Color parameters that you can select using the eyedropper, the Windows Color dialog box, or the Macintosh Color Picker as well as by using sliders

For reference information on all effect parameters, see “2D Effects

Parameters” on page 318.

Using Parameter Sliders

Parameter sliders allow you to adjust effect parameters that have a range of possible values. For example, use the Level slider in the Foreground parameter category to adjust the degree of opacity of the foreground material on a scale from 0 to 100.

The thumbwheel is a specialized slider that provides a window on a wide range of values and allows precise control over increments.

The parameter’s numeric value changes as you move the slider.

Slider Thumbwheel

Parameter’s slider Parameter’s numeric valueActivated thumbwheel

Parameter’s numeric value

To activate a parameter that has a slider:

t Click the slider.

When you activate a slider, it changes to pink.

To move from one slider to the next slider:

t Press the Tab key.

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To change the value of a parameter that has a slider, do one or more of the following:

t Move the slider with the mouse. t Type a new value using the numeric keypad, and, if you entered fewer

than three digits, press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh).

t Use the Left Arrow or Right Arrow key to change the value by –1 or

+1.

t Press the Shift key and use the Left Arrow or Right Arrow key to

change the value by –10 or +10.

Using Parameter Enable Buttons

Some parameter categories contain parameter Enable buttons. These buttons control parameters that can either be active or inactive but cannot be adjusted over a range of values. For example, the Fixed Aspect parameter Enable button controls whether the aspect ratio of an image is maintained when you adjust one of its dimensions.

Using the Effect Editor

To turn a parameter on or off by using a parameter Enable button:

t Click the Enable button.

Parameter Enable buttons are pink when the parameter is active and gray when the parameter is inactive.

Using Fast Menu Parameters

Some effects have additional parameters that you select from the current parameter’s Fast menu.

To select an additional parameter:

t Click the Fast Menu button in the parameter, and then choose an

option.

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Chapter 3 Customizing Effects

Using the Other Options Button to Access Parameters

Some effects have additional parameters that control their operation. For example, the Grid effect has additional parameters in which you set the number of columns and rows in the wipe. When an effect has additional parameters, the Other Options button appears next to the effect name or in a parameter category.

To use an effect’s additional parameters:

t Click the Other Options button next to the effect name or in a

parameter category. A dialog box appears in which you set the additional parameters.

You also use the Other Options button to use the parameters for third-party plug-in effects, for the Windows Color dialog box or Macintosh Color Picker, to open a title edited into a sequence in the Title tool (when you want to revise that title), and for other effects that allow you to change color parameters.

Adjusting a Color Parameter

You can change a color parameter or select a key color by using the eyedropper or the Windows Color dialog box or Macintosh Color Picker instead of the Hue, Sat (saturation), and Lum (luminance) sliders.

Other Options button

Eyedropper

Color Preview window

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Using the Eyedropper

To select a color using the eyedropper:

1. Position the pointer over the Color Preview window to activate the eyedropper.

2. Click the eyedropper, drag it into the Effect Preview monitor, and release the mouse button on the color you want to select from the video image.

Avid Xpress DV updates the parameter’s numeric values, and the selected color appears in the Color Preview window.

Using the Windows Color Dialog Box

The Windows Color dialog box is a standard application that ships with the Windows operating system.

To open the Windows Color dialog box:

t Click the Other Options button in a color parameter pane.

Using the Effect Editor

Default choices

Custom colors palette

The Windows Color dialog box appears.

Color|Solid box Currently chosen color Color matrix

Color slider

Color selection text boxes

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To use the Windows Color dialog box:

1. To choose a color from the Basic colors palette, click the color you want.

2. To specify a custom color, do one of the following:

t Click in the color matrix to choose a color, and then drag the color

t Type numerical values for each color component in the color

The new color is displayed on the left side of the Color|Solid box. The right side of this box displays the solid color closest to the color you have specified. You can choose the displayed solid color by doubleclicking the right side of the box.

3. When you are satisfied with the color, click Add to Custom Colors to add it to the Custom colors palette.

4. To choose a custom color from the Windows Color dialog box, click the color you want.

slider to adjust the amount of white and black in the color.

selection text boxes.

Using the Macintosh

5. Click OK. The Windows Color dialog box closes, and the color is applied to the

parameter in the Effect Editor.

Color Picker

The Macintosh

Color Picker is a standard application that ships with Macintosh systems. Its appearance varies, depending on the current release of the Macintosh operating system.

To open the Macintosh Color Picker:

t Click the Other Options button in a color parameter pane.

The Macintosh Color Picker dialog box appears.

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Using the Effect Editor

The Macintosh Color Picker provides several methods for specifying colors. Select the appropriate icon on the left side of the Color Picker dialog box to display the method you want. The preceding illustration shows the HSV (Hue, Saturation, Value) display. The following procedures explain how to use the HSV display. For information on how to use the other Macintosh Color Picker interfaces, see the documentation that ships with your Macintosh system.

To use the HSV color wheel:

1. Drag the crosshair color selector in the wheel to select a color. Hue values change as you move in a circle around the wheel.

Saturation values change as you move from the center of the wheel (minimum saturation) to the edge of the wheel (maximum saturation).

2. Drag the Value slider below the wheel to make colors brighter or darker.

To pick a color using the color selection text boxes:

t Type the values you want to use for Hue Angle, Saturation, and Value

in the text boxes on the right side of the dialog box. The color selector automatically changes position in the color wheel as

you change values.

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Chapter 3 Customizing Effects

Understanding Keyframes

Yo u us e keyframes to change the appearance and behavior of an effect over time. A keyframe is a point in the effect at which you can set parameters. Modifying an effect’s parameters at various points causes the effect’s appearance to vary as it plays. For example, you can add keyframes to a Picture-in-Picture effect and change the position parameters for each keyframe to add movement to the effect.

Keyframe indicators appear as triangles in the position bar of the Effect Preview monitor when you select an effect and the Effect Editor is active. You adjust keyframe parameters by using the Effect Editor.

Starting keyframe Ending keyframeSelected keyframe (pink)Add Keyframe button

For the Picture-in-Picture effect, you can increase your control of the way effect parameters change over time by using advanced keyframes. With this capability, each keyframeable effect parameter has a separate Timeline track — a keyframe track that opens to display a keyframe graph — where you set and customize keyframes that are independent of other parameters’ keyframes. For more information, see “Working with Advanced

Keyframes” on page 102.

You can still select standard keyframes, in which each keyframe affects all parameters. You can also use advanced keyframes as if they were standard keyframes.

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Using Standard Keyframes

With standard keyframes, Avid Xpress DV always provides the starting and ending keyframes of an effect. These keyframes are selected by default, and thus any parameter changes are constant throughout the effect. By using techniques for adding, deleting, moving, selecting, and deselecting keyframes, you can begin to change the appearance and operation of the effect over time by applying parameter changes to specific keyframes.

Adding a Standard Keyframe

You can create a standard keyframe at any point in the effect’s position bar.

To create a standard keyframe:

1. Click in the position bar below the Effect Preview monitor at the point in the effect where you want to add the keyframe.

The position indicator moves to that frame.

Using Standard Keyframes

2. Do one of the following to add a keyframe: t Click the Add Keyframe button either in the Effect Preview

Monitor toolbar or in the Tool palette. For information on opening the Tool palette, see “Using the Tool

Palette” in the chapter “Viewing and Marking Footage” in the user’s guide.

t Manually adjust a parameter in the Effect Preview monitor

(segment effects only). For example, when you click a handle on an effect outline and drag to resize or reposition it, the system automatically creates a new keyframe.

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Chapter 3 Customizing Effects

Selecting a Standard Keyframe

You can select a single standard keyframe or multiple standard keyframes at the same time. A keyframe indicator changes to pink when selected.

To select one keyframe:

t Click the keyframe indicator in the position bar below the Effect

Preview monitor.

To select multiple keyframes:

t Shift+click the keyframe indicators that you want in the effect’s

position bar.

To select all keyframes in the effect’s position bar, do one of the following:

t Press Ctrl+A (Windows) or k+A (Macintosh). t Press and hold Ctrl+Alt (Windows) or the k key (Macintosh), and

click one keyframe indicator.

For a quick way to jump to the next or previous keyframe indicator, use the Fast Forward and Rewind buttons on the Effect Preview Monitor toolbar.

Moving a Standard Keyframe

After you have created a standard keyframe, you can move it to another position in the position bar below the Effect Preview monitor.

100

With standard keyframes, you cannot move the starting and ending keyframes.

To move a standard keyframe, do one of the following:

t Alt+click (Windows) or Option+click (Macintosh) the keyframe

indicator, and drag it to its new position.

t Select a keyframe indicator, and click the Trim Left 1 Frame or Trim

Right 1 Frame button or the Trim Left 10 Frames or Trim Right 10 Frames button.

Pinnacle Systems Xpress DV - 3.5 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

Tables

Using This Guide

Who Should Use This Guide

About This Guide

Symbols and Conventions

If You Need Help

Related Information

If You Have Documentation Comments

How to Order Documentation

Avid Educational Services

Effect Types

Effects Creation Tools

Understanding Effect Playback Capabilities

Using the Effect Palette

Understanding the Effect Palette

Displaying the Effect Palette

Resizing the Effect Palette

Displaying Effect Templates

Using Third-Party Plug-in Effects

Understanding AVX Plug-Ins

IllusionFX Pack Plug-Ins

Installing AVX Plug-Ins

Upgrading AVX Plug-ins and Effects

Assigning Multiple Tracks in Plug-in Effects

Using AVX Plug-in Controls

Accessing an AVX Custom Interface

Custom AVX Controls in the Effect Editor

Troubleshooting AVX Plug-Ins

Plug-in Does Not Appear in the Effect Palette

Plug-in Does Not Load

Avid Xpress DV Cannot Render the Plug-In

Blank Effect Icons in the Timeline

Missing Effect Categories in the Effect Palette

Basics of Effects Editing

Deconstructing Effects

Applying Effects to a Sequence

Applying an Effect to a Single Transition or Segment

Dragging an Effect from the Effect Palette

Double-Clicking an Effect Icon in the Effect Palette

Applying an Effect to Multiple Transitions

Applying an Effect to Multiple Segments

Deleting Effects in a Sequence

Deleting a Single Effect

Deleting Multiple Transition Effects

Deleting Multiple Segment Effects

Using the Fade Effect Button

Working with Transition Effects

Applying a Dissolve Effect

Using the Effect Palette to Create a Dissolve Effect

Creating a Dissolve in Trim Mode

Adding Dissolves with the Head Fade and Tail Fade Buttons

Using the Quick Transition Button

Creating an Effect Using the Quick Transition Button

Applying Effects to Multiple Transitions Using the Quick Transition Button

Understanding the Graphical Display in the Quick Transition Dialog Box

Sizing the Effect to Fit the Media

Trimming a Transition Effect

Customizing Effects

Opening the Effect Editor

Customizing the Effect Display

Understanding the Effect Preview Monitor

Effect Preview Monitor Toolbar Buttons

Understanding the Tracking Information

Displaying the Safe Title and Safe Action Guidelines

Moving an Enlarged Image in the Effect Preview Monitor

Changing Position in an Effect

Replacing an Effect in Effect Mode

Using the Effect Editor

Effect Editor Controls

Displaying an Effect’s Parameters in the Effect Editor

Understanding Effect Parameters

Using Parameter Sliders

Using Parameter Enable Buttons

Using Fast Menu Parameters

Using the Other Options Button to Access Parameters