Pinnacle Systems Xpress Pro HD - 5.0 User Manual

Avid Xpress® Pro HD

Effects Guide

make manage move | media

™

Avid

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2

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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.

3

Eco Challenge British Columbia — Courtesy of Eco Challenge Lifestyles, Inc., All Rights Reserved.
Eco Challenge Morocco — Courtesy of Discovery Communications, Inc.
It’s Shuttletime — Courtesy of BCP & Canadian Airlines.
Nestlé Coffee Crisp — Courtesy of MacLaren McCann Canada.
Saturn “Calvin Egg” — Courtesy of Cossette Communications.
“Tigers: Tracking a Legend” — Courtesy of www.wildlifeworlds.com, Carol Amore, Executive Producer.
"The Big Swell" — Courtesy of Swell Pictures, Inc.
Windhorse — Courtesy of Paul Wagner Productions.

Arizona Images — KNTV Production — Courtesy of Granite Broadcasting, Inc.,
Editor/Producer Bryan Foote.
Canyonlands — Courtesy of the National Park Service/Department of the Interior.
Tornados + Belle Isle footage — Courtesy of KWTV News 9.
WCAU Fire Story — Courtesy of NBC-10, Philadelphia, PA.
Women in Sports – Paragliding — Courtesy of Legendary Entertainment, Inc.

GOT FOOTAGE?

Editors — Filmmakers — Special Effects Artists — Game Developers — Animators — Educators —
Broadcasters — Content creators of every genre — Just finished an incredible project and want to
share it with the world?

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

For a copy of our release and Avid’s mailing address, go to www.avid.com/footage.

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

Avid Xpress Pro HD Effects Guide • Part 0130-06769-01 Rev. A • December 2004

4

Contents

Using This Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Symbols and Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

If You Need Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Accessing the Online Library and Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

How to Order Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Avid Educational Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Chapter 1 Preparing to Work with Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Effect Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Effects Creation Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Understanding Effect Playback Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Video Effects for HD Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Working with Effects in 24p or 25p Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Using the Effect Palette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Understanding the Effect Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Displaying the Effect Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Resizing the Effect Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Understanding the Color Coding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Displaying Effect Templates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Using Third-Party Plug-in Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Support for AVX 1.x and AVX 2.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

AVX 1.x Plug-ins and Memory Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Installing AVX Plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Locating the AVX 1.x Plug-Ins Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Upgrading and Promoting AVX Plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Updating a Plug-in to a New Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Promoting AVX 1.x Plug-ins to AVX 2.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Assigning Multiple Tracks in Plug-in Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Using AVX Plug-in Controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Using AVX 1.x Plug-In Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Using AVX 2.0 Plug-In Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Using the Client Monitor to Preview the Plug-In Effect. . . . . . . . . . 43

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

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

Plug-In Does Not Load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

The Avid Application Cannot Render the Plug-In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

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

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

The Avid System Is Running Out of Free Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Avid After Effects External Monitor Preview Plug-In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Installing the Avid After Effects EMP Plug-in. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Using the Avid After Effects EMP Plug-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Tips for Using the Avid After Effects EMP Plug-in. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Effect Aperture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

What is an Effect Aperture?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Changing the Effect Aperture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Deconstructing Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Applying Effects to a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Applying an Effect to a Single Transition or Segment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Dragging an Effect from the Effect Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Double-Clicking an Effect Icon in the Effect Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Applying an Effect to Multiple Transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Applying an Effect to Multiple Segments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

6

Deleting Effects in a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Deleting a Single Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Deleting Multiple Transition Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Deleting Multiple Segment Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Using the Fade Effect Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Working with Transition Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Applying a Dissolve Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Using the Effect Palette to Create a Dissolve Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Creating a Dissolve in Trim Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Adding Dissolves with the Head Fade Button and the Tail

Fade Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Using the Quick Transition Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Creating an Effect Using the Quick Transition Button . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Applying Effects to Multiple Transitions Using the Quick

Transition Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Understanding the Graphical Display in the Quick

Transition Dialog Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Adjusting a Transition Effect by Dragging in the Quick

Transition Dialog Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Repositioning a Transition Effect with the Quick Transition

Alignment Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Sizing the Effect to Fit the Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Trimming a Transition Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Chapter 3 Customizing Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Opening the Effect Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Customizing the Effect Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Understanding the Effect Preview Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Effect Preview Monitor Toolbar Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Understanding the Tracking Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Displaying the Safe Title and Safe Action Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Moving an Enlarged Image in the Effect Preview Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . 87

7

Changing Position in an Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Replacing an Effect in Effect Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Using the Effect Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Effect Editor Controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Displaying an Effect’s Parameters in the Effect Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Understanding Effect Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Using Parameter Sliders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Using Parameter Enable Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Using Fast Menu Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Using the Other Options Button to Access Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Adjusting a Color Parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Using the Eyedropper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Using the Windows Color Dialog Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Understanding Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Using Standard Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Adding a Standard Keyframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Selecting a Standard Keyframe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Moving a Standard Keyframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Changing a Standard Keyframe’s Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Copying and Pasting Standard Keyframe Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Deleting a Standard Keyframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Working with Advanced Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Promoting Effects to Advanced Keyframes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Opening Keyframe Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Effect Editor Controls for Advanced Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Shortcut Menus for Advanced Keyframes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Adding and Deleting Keyframes in Keyframe Graphs. . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Using the Add Keyframe Mode Menu and the Delete Keyframe

Mode Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Adding Keyframes in the Composer Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

8

Deselecting All Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Moving a Keyframe in a Keyframe Graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Selecting Multiple Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Moving Keyframes Vertically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Moving a Keyframe Horizontally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Moving a Keyframe in Any Direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Moving Multiple Keyframes Horizontally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Moving Keyframes in a Closed Parameter Graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Copying and Pasting Advanced Keyframe Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Selecting and Deselecting Advanced Keyframes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Elastic Keyframes and Fixed Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Parameter Changes at Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Options for Controlling Parameter Changes at Keyframes . . . . . . 131

Adjusting Parameter Values with the Bézier Interpolation

Option. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Changing the Adjustment Method for the Bézier Interpolation

Option. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Align Keyframes and Slip Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Aligning Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Slipping Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Extrapolate and Hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Adjusting the View in a Keyframe Graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Zooming and Scrolling Keyframe Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Resizing Keyframe Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Moving Keyframe Graph Views Up or Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Resetting Keyframe Graph Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Options for Using Advanced Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Manipulating Effects Directly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Defining Motion Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Moving the Image Directly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Resizing a Foreground Image by Dragging Handles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

9

Using an Effect Template. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Saving an Effect Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Applying an Effect Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Chapter 4 Playing, Previewing, and Rendering Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Playing an Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Basic Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Playing an Effect in a Continuous Loop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Playing a Preview of an Effect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Playing Real-Time Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Playing Complex Effect Combinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Previewing Effect Frames with Render On-the-Fly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Interrupting Render On-the-Fly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Real-Time Preview of Video Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Understanding Real-Time Effects Processing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Understanding Real-Time Playback Information in the Timeline. . . . . 164

Controlling Real-Time Effects Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Playing Back at Different Video Qualities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

10

Playing Real-Time Effects Through a Separate IEEE-1394

Connection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Real-Time Effects and Effect Icon Colors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Rendering Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Creating and Using Render Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Creating a New Render Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Adjusting Render Settings Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Activating a Render Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Partial Render . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Interrupting a Render . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Customizing Render Ranges Display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Rendering a Single Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Rendering Effects at Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Rendering Effects Between IN and OUT Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

16-Bit Processing Support for Rendered Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Effects that Do Not Support 16-Bit Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Rendering HQ (Highest Quality) Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

ExpertRender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Understanding ExpertRender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Using the ExpertRender Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Using the ExpertRender Command After a Real-Time

Playback Attempt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Modifying ExpertRender Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Considerations When Using ExpertRender. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Managing Effect Media Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Understanding Effect Media Files Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Revealing Effect Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Deleting Effect Media Files from a Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Chapter 5 Creating Motion Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Understanding Traditional Motion Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Creating Traditional Motion Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Playing and Rendering Traditional Motion Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Rendering Considerations When Creating Traditional

Motion Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Rendering and Rerendering Existing Traditional Motion

Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Displaying Information About Motion Effect Type Changes . . . . . 205

Freeze Frame Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Creating a Freeze Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Controlling a Freeze Frame with a Single Button or Key. . . . . . . . 209

Creating a Rolling Clip That Freezes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Creating a Variable Speed Effect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Using the Fit to Fill Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Creating a Strobe Motion Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

11

Displaying Console Information for Motion Effect Type Changes . . . . 217

Considerations for Motion Effects in 24p or 25p Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Using Timewarp Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Using the FluidFilm Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

Using the Region Stabilize Effect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Stabilizing an Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Making Adjustments to the Region of Interest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Using Avid Pan & Zoom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

Working with Image Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Applying the Avid Pan & Zoom Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Viewing the Image While You Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Adjusting the Field of View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Zooming Into and Out Of the Source Image. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Panning Over the Source Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Using Velocity In and Velocity Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Using Ease In and Ease Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Creating a Path with Constant Velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

12

Setting the Path Parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

Options for Rendering the Avid Pan & Zoom Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Rendering Option for Progressive Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Selecting the Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Advanced Parameter Category . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

Pixel Types in the Source and Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

Color Levels for Avid Pan & Zoom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

Memory Management with the Avid Pan & Zoom Effect. . . . . . . . . . . 237

Chapter 6 Creating Layered and Nested Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Creating Key Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

Using the Chroma Key Effect and the RGB Keyer Effect . . . . . . . . . . 240

Using Post-Key Color Correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Creating a Luma Key Effect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Creating a Matte Key Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

Using the Color Effect to Prepare a High-Contrast Image . . . . . . . . . . 245

Working with Imported Graphics and Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

Editing with Imported Matte Key Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Editing with Imported Master Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Nesting Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Expanding Nested Effects in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

Stepping Into and Out of Nested Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

Creating a Simple Nested Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

Changing the Order of Nested Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Nesting a Matte Key Effect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Submaster Editing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Applying the Submaster Effect to a Multilayered Sequence . . . . . . . . 256

Using the Submaster Effect with a Series of Short Clips . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Collapsing Layers into One Submaster Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Performing a Video Mixdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Chapter 7 Working with 3D Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Using Xpress 3D Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Accessing 3D Effects in the Effects Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Promoting 2D Effects to 3D Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Creating a Matte Key for Use with 3D Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

Understanding the 3D Effects Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Moving in 3D Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

The 3D Coordinate System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Rotation Axes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Working with 3D Effects Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Accessing 3D Effects Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Manipulating 3D Effects Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Using the Default Keyframe Parameter Values. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Resetting Default Parameter Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

13

Using Effect Templates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Zooming In or Out on the Effect Preview Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Manipulating 3D Effects Directly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Manipulating 3D Effect Handles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Using the Motion Path Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Applying 3D Effects: Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Creating a Page Fold Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Creating a Cropped Foreground Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Chapter 8 Creating Titles and Graphic Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Workflow for Creating Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Opening the Title Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Understanding the Title Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Understanding the Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282

Using the Selection Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

Setting Up the Drawing Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Installing Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Previewing Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

14

Displaying Safe Title or Safe Action Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Using Safe Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Selecting a Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Switching Between Video and Color Backgrounds. . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Updating the Video Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Creating a Color Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Using the Alignment and Snap Grids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Bringing the Title Tool to the Foreground . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Working with Text. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Creating Text. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Eliminating Unused Space in a Text Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

Copying and Pasting Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

Resizing Text Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Repositioning Text Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Editing a Text String . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Formatting the Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Selecting Text for Formatting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Setting the Default Text Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Changing the Font. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Changing the Point Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

Making Text Bold or Italic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

Justifying the Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

Adjusting Text Kerning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

Adjusting Leading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Creating Graphic Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Drawing a Square or Rectangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300

Drawing a Circle or Oval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300

Drawing a Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Selecting Line Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Rounding Corners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

Selecting a Line or Border Width. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

Adding Arrowheads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Changing Arrowhead Size. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Creating Rolling and Crawling Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

Page Count Limits in Rolling and Crawling Titles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Using Auto Size Mode for Rolling and Crawling Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

Setting Up Text Formatting for Rolling and Crawling Titles . . . . . . . . . 306

Workflow Options for Creating Crawling Titles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

Typing the Rolling and Crawling Title Text. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

Resizing the Width of Rolling and Crawling Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Scrolling Through a Rolling or Crawling Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Going to a Page in a Rolling or Crawling Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

Adding Pages in a Rolling or Crawling Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

15

Copying or Moving Objects to Pages in a Rolling or

Crawling Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

Inserting Blank Pages in a Rolling or Crawling Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

Deleting Pages in a Rolling or Crawling Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

Formatting Rolling and Crawling Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

Selecting Colors and Setting Transparency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312

Adjusting the Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312

Blending Two Colors in an Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313

Using the Title Tool Color Picker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314

Adjusting the Transparency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

Blending Transparency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

Working with Shadows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

Applying Shadows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

Adjusting Shadow Color and Transparency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

Setting Shadow Softness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

Adjusting Shadow Softness On-the-Fly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

Viewing Shadow Softness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

16

Creating a Glow Effect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Manipulating Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Basic Manipulation Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Layering Text and Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322

Grouping and Ungrouping Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322

Locking and Unlocking Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

Aligning Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324

Distributing Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325

Saving Titles, Title Styles, and Title Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325

Saving a Title and Exiting the Title Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

Saving Multiple Titles in a Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

Using the Fast Save Option. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

Saving a Title with Fast Save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

Locating Fast-Saved Titles in a Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

Rendering Fast-Saved Titles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

Revising a Title in a Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

Using a Keyboard Shortcut to Save a Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

Saving and Recalling Title Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

Saving a Title Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

Recalling a Title Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Confirming Function Key Mapping of Title Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

Applying Title Styles to Text Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

Managing Title Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

Creating and Using Title Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

Creating Title Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

Using Title Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

Exporting a Title as a Graphics File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

Chapter 9 Editing with Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

Workflow for Editing with Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

Restrictions on Title Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

Understanding Title Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

Displaying Title Frames in the Bin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

Editing a Title into a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

Setting Marks in Rolling and Crawling Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

Splicing or Overwriting a Title into a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

Dragging a Marked Title into a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345

Dragging an Unmarked Title into a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

Trimming the Duration of Rolling and Crawling Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

Removing Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348

Replacing Titles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349

Fading a Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349

Adjusting Title Effect Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349

Revising a Title in a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351

17

Replacing Fill Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

Rendering Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

Re-creating Title Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

Promoting a 2D Title to 3D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356

Chapter 10 Working with PlasmaWipe Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357

Using PlasmaWipe Effects with HD Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357

Understanding PlasmaWipe Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357

PlasmaWipe Folder Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

Using PlasmaWipe Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359

Creating PlasmaWipe Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

Creating PAL and NTSC Versions of the Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

Creating a PlasmaWipe from a Custom Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362

Creating a Wipe Using the Photoshop Pencil Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

Creating a PlasmaWipe Effect from an Existing Image. . . . . . . . . . . . 365

Tips for Working with Gradient Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

Testing the Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

Saving the Image for PAL and NTSC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370

18

Storing Images in the PlasmaWipes Folder Structure. . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

Tips for Adjusting an Existing PlasmaWipe Effect While the

Application is Running . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

Using PlasmaWipe Frame and Border Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374

Applying and Adjusting Frame and Border Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375

Default Values for PlasmaWipe Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

Creating Custom Border and Frame Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381

Using This Guide

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.

A companion volume, the Avid Xpress Pro HD Effects Reference contains
reference material for all 2D effects and 3D effects. It is available as part of the
Help and on the Avid Xpress Pro HD Online Library and Tutorial CD-ROM.

This guide is intended for all users, from beginning to advanced.

n

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.

Using This Guide

Symbols and Conventions

Avid documentation uses the following symbols and conventions:

Symbol or Convention Meaning or Action

n

c

w

> This symbol indicates menu commands (and

t

Margin tips

Italic font Italic font is used to emphasize certain words and to

Courier Bold font

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

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

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

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

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

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

indicate variables.

Courier Bold font identifies text that you type.

20

Ctrl+key or mouse action Press and hold the first key while you press the last

key or perform the mouse action. For example,
Ctrl+drag.

If You Need Help

If you are having trouble using this Avid editing application:

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

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

- The ReadMe files are available in your Avid application folder.

If You Need Help

ReadMe files are also available from Help. You need Adobe®
Acrobat® Reader® to view the ReadMe file.

n

The most up-to-date ReadMe files are available on the Avid Knowledge Base.

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

4. Visit the online Knowledge Base at www.avid.com/onlinesupport. Online
services are available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Search this
online Knowledge Base to find answers, to view error messages, to access
troubleshooting tips, to download updates, and to read/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).

Accessing the Online Library and Tutorial

The Avid Xpress Pro HD Online Library and Tutorial CD-ROM contains a
multimedia tutorial and all the product documentation in PDF format. Avid
recommends the multimedia tutorial as your first resource for learning how to
use your application. You can access the tutorial and the library from the
Online Library and Tutorial CD-ROM or from the Help menu.

The Online Library includes a Master Glossary of all specialized terminology
used in the documentation for Avid products.

21

Using This Guide

n

You need Adobe® Reader® installed to view the documentation online. You can
download the latest version of Adobe Reader from the Adobe web site. The
tutorial and the effects reference guide require Apple’s QuickTime
application to view the QuickTime movies. You can download the latest
version of QuickTime from the Apple

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

1. Insert the Avid Xpress Pro HD Online Library and Tutorial CD-ROM into
the CD-ROM drive.

2. Double-click the Mainmenu file.

To access the online library and tutorial from the Help:

1. Insert the Avid Xpress Pro HD Online Library and Tutorial CD-ROM into
the CD-ROM drive.

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

How to Order Documentation

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

®

Web s ite.

®

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).

22

Chapter 1

Preparing to Work with Effects

Your Avid editing application 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

• Video Effects for HD Projects

• Working with Effects in 24p or 25p Projects

• Using the Effect Palette

• Using Third-Party Plug-in Effects

• Avid After Effects External Monitor Preview Plug-In

• Effect Aperture

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 Avid editing application
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.”

24

• 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 8, “Creating Titles and Graphic Objects”
and Chapter 9, “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.”

Effects Creation Tools

Titl

l

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:

Motion Effect dialog box

Edit effect clips into the Timeline.

e too

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

Effects adjustment in Effect mode:

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

Effect Editor:
Allows you to
adjust effect
parameters.

25

Chapter 1 Preparing to Work with Effects

Understanding Effect Playback Capabilities

When you apply an effect to video, 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 Avid editing application is
able to calculate these changes and display them in real time.

In other circumstances, the Avid application is unable to do this, so you must
render the effect to play it at full speed. Rendering is the merging of effect
layers to create one stream of digital video for playback in real time. When
you render an effect, the Avid editing application 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.

26

Most Avid editing applications can play effects in real time 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 Avid editing
application cannot play all 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.

The Avid editing application’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 163.

If you want to preview effects that your editing application 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 162.

When you are ready to output a sequence that includes effects, you may have
to render some or all of the effects. The exact number of effects that you must
render for output depends on the following factors:

• Whether or not you have an Avid Mojo attached to your system. If you do
not have an Avid Mojo, you must render all effects before you perform a
digital cut.

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

For more information, see “Rendering Effects” on page 171.

Video Effects for HD Projects

Many video effects work the same way in SD and HD, for example, dissolves,
superimposes, flips, and so on.

Effects that use square geometry automatically use the correct pixel aspect
ratios. These effects include Titles, Box Wipes, certain paint modes like
Mosaic, and so on. Effects such as Color Correction, Color Effect, and Luma
keys automatically use the correct color space (ITU-709 for HD).

Video Effects for HD Projects

Note the following:

• Titles: There is no need to generate 4:3 media.

• Timewarps: These effects use a 60p input and output format in 720p/59.94
projects.

All effects are rendered at Full Quality. Real-time previews of effects in HD
projects play at either Best Quality or Best Performance. For more
information, see “Playing Back at Different Video Qualities” on page 167.

27

Chapter 1 Preparing to Work with Effects

Working with Effects in 24p or 25p Projects

Since effects in 24p or 25p projects are frame based rather than field based,
their normal behavior is slightly different from effects in interlaced projects. In
particular, temporal artifacts might appear in some effects under certain
circumstances. This section explains when temporal artifacts might appear and
suggests ways to create effects that do not show perceptible temporal artifacts.

Effects that do not involve any movement across the screen — for example,
masks, Color Effects, and dissolves — look the same in 24p or 25p projects as
in interlaced projects.

Effects that involve movement across the screen — for example, wipes,
3D shapes, or moving titles — might look different from their equivalents in
interlaced projects for the following reasons:

• Since the effect is created using 24 or 25 progressive frames per second
(24p or 25p), motion across the screen is interpolated in 24 or 25
increments per second. (Contrast the 50 increments per second for a PAL
interlaced project or the 60 increments per second for an NTSC interlaced
project.) For example, the edge of a 1-second Horizontal Edge Wipe effect
will appear in 24 or 25 different positions across the screen. For effects of
short duration in particular, this difference might be perceptible to the
viewer.

28

n

• When the 24p or 25p media is output (to the interlaced Client monitor or
as a digital cut), it is re-interlaced and pulldown is inserted to achieve 60
fields per second (NTSC). The Avid application inserts pulldown by
duplicating some of the existing frames to create the correct number of
fields per second. Temporal artifacts created by this duplication process
might be perceptible to the viewer. This behavior is a normal result of the
pulldown insertion process and is often perceptible in conventional
transfers of films to video formats.

PAL output with pulldown also duplicates certain frames but is less likely to
exhibit perceptible temporal artifacts since fewer frames require duplication.

Motion effects created in 24p or 25p projects, such as Variable Speed effects,
might also look different from motion effects created in interlaced projects.
For more information on 24p or 25p motion effects, see “Considerations for

Motion Effects in 24p or 25p Projects” on page 218.

Using the Effect Palette

n

For more information on how the Avid application handles 24p or 25p
material, see “Working with 24p Media” and “Working with 25p Media” in
the Help.

If an effect in a 24p or 25p project does not look completely smooth, do one or
more of the following:

• Slow down the effect.
For example, a 2-second Horizontal Edge Wipe effect, while it is still

performing at the same rate (24 increments per second), moves across the
screen in 48 steps. These smaller movements make the wipe appear
smoother to the viewer.

• Soften the edges of the effect.
The more the edges of the effect are blurred, the less noticeable the

movements between the increments of the effect will be.

• When working with moving titles, avoid small font sizes and sharp edges.
In a moving title such as a roll, lines of small text might move less

smoothly than lines of larger text.

Using the Effect Palette

The Effect Palette is a window that lists all the effects available on your Avid
editing application. The complete set of effects available with your Avid
editing application includes all standard Avid effects for your model as well as
any additional third-party plug-ins you might have installed. The effects that
are available depend on the model and options that you purchased and on what
third-party plug-ins you might have installed.

You select transition and segment effects from the Effect Palette.

29

Chapter 1 Preparing to Work with Effects

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

• Illusion FX

•Image

•Key

• L-Conceal

• Matrix Wipe

• Peel

™

30

n

•PlasmaWipe

•Push

• Sawtooth Wipe

• Shape Wipe

•Spin

• Squeeze

• Xpress 3D Effect

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

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 “Understanding the Color Coding”

on page 32 and “Real-Time Preview of Video Effects” on page 163.

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 icons

Blend effect choices

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

To display the Effect Palette as a standalone window:

1. Do one of the following:

t Select Tools > Effect Palette.
t Press Ctrl+8.

31

Chapter 1 Preparing to Work with Effects

The Effect Palette opens.

Scrollable list of
effect categories

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.

Blend effect
choices

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.

Understanding the Color Coding

Effect icons in the Effect Palette and in the Timeline display color-coded dots
to help you determine whether an effect is real-time or non-real-time. After
opening the Effect Palette, you will notice that:

• Real-time effects are preceded by a green dot. Real-time effects might not
be playable in real time due to their position in a sequence or the options
available with your Avid editing application.

• Non-real-time effects have no dot in the Effect Palette. In the Timeline,
the effect icon contains a blue dot until you render the effect.

32

Using the Effect Palette

n

When you edit a non-real-time effect into a sequence, the effect icon appears
with a blue dot in the Timeline, which indicates that you must render the effect
to play it in real time. After you render the effect, the effect icon appears in the
Timeline without a dot.

All color-coded dots disappear in the Timeline when you render effects.

Green dot indicates a real­time effect that might not be
playable in real time.

No dot indicates a non-real-time
effect; in the Timeline, a non-real­time effect icon contains a blue dot
until the effect is rendered.

A real-time effect might not be playable in real time for a variety of reasons
involving the complexity of the sequence and the real-time effects capabilities
of your Avid editing application. For more information, see “Understanding

Effect Playback Capabilities” on page 26.

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 156.

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.

33

Chapter 1 Preparing to Work with Effects

To view effect templates:

1. Open the bin containing the effect templates.

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

t In the Project window, click the Effects tab.
t Select Tools > Effect Palette.

The Effect Palette opens.

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

34

Effect category list

Bin name containing
effect templates

n

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.

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,
your Avid editing application 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 or to update existing
effects. Third-party plug-in effects are compatible with the Avid Visual
Extensions (AVX
designed to allow software effect modules to be dynamically linked with a
host application such as an Avid application.

The following plug-ins are standard with your Avid editing system:

• Illusion FX category of effects

• Avid Pan and Zoom effect

• RGB Keyer effect

™

) standard. AVX is a cross-platform software architecture

Using Third-Party Plug-in Effects

n

n

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

www.avid.com/partners/avx/displayPartners.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-in icon. The plug-in icon also appears in the Timeline when
you have applied 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.

The Avid application 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 “Working with Audio” in the Help.

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

35

Chapter 1 Preparing to Work with Effects

Support for AVX 1.x and AVX 2.0

Your Avid editing application supports AVX 1.x and AVX 2.0 plug-ins. AVX

2.0 supports the advanced keyframe model and allows plug-in vendors to take
advantage of 16-bit effects processing.

AVX 2.0 plug-ins automatically use the advanced keyframe interface. You do
not need to promote them as you do with many other effects. Whether a
particular AVX 2.0 effect supports 16-bit processing is up to the plug-in
vendor. For more information on 16-bit effects processing, see “16-Bit

Processing Support for Rendered Effects” on page 181.

AVX 1.x plug-ins are compatible with this release but do not take advantage of
the advanced keyframe model or 16-bit processing.

Some vendors allow you to promote AVX 1.x plug-ins to an AVX 2.0 version.
For more information, see “Promoting AVX 1.x Plug-ins to AVX 2.0” on

page 40.

In general, AVX plug-ins are resolution-independent and automatically scale
to the resolution of the clip. If an older AVX plug-in doesn’t scale correctly
with HD resolutions, please contact the plug-in vendor.

AVX 1.x Plug-ins and Memory Usage

Each time you apply an AVX plug-in to a sequence, the Avid application keeps
the effect resident in memory. When you close the bin containing the
sequence, the application also closes the AVX plug-ins, freeing the memory. If
you have applied many plug-ins and you find your Avid application running
out of memory, use the following procedure to free the memory being used by
the plug-ins.

To close all the AVX 1.x plug-ins:

1. Select Tools > Console.

2. Type the command
The application closes all open AVX 1.x plug-ins. The AVX plug-ins will

automatically open again as needed.

36

closeallavxplugins

and press Enter.

Installing AVX Plug-ins

Most AVX plug-ins have their own installation program that locates the
correct AVX Plug-In folder and installs the plug-ins automatically when you
follow the installation instructions. AVX plug-ins usually come complete with
any necessary documentation.

Using Third-Party Plug-in Effects

c

c

If an AVX plug-in has an installation program, 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. Exit the Avid application.

Do not add or remove plug-ins while the Avid application is running.

2. Copy the plug-in files from the software vendor’s folder to the
corresponding AVX Plug-Ins folder located on your Avid system.

t AVX 2.0 plug-ins must be installed in the following folder:

C:\Program Files\Avid\<application name>\AVX2_Plug-Ins
where application name is the name of your Avid editing application.

t The default location for AVX 1.x plug-ins is:

C:\Program Files\Avid\AVX_Plug-Ins
The AVX 1.x Plug-Ins folder might be in a different location on your

system.

c

n

(AVX 1.x plug-ins only) You must place AVX 1.x plug-ins directly in the
corresponding AVX_Plug-Ins folder. They cannot be inside another folder
within this folder or elsewhere on the Avid system. If they are, the Avid
application will not recognize them.

If the AVX 1.x AVX_Plug-Ins folders does not appear in the default location
and you do not know where the folder is located, you can use the Regedit
application that comes with your Windows system to locate the folder. For
more information, see “Locating the AVX 1.x Plug-Ins Folder” on page 38.

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Chapter 1 Preparing to Work with Effects

3. Restart the Avid application.

4. Select Tools > Effect Palette.
For more information, see “Displaying the Effect Palette” on page 31.
The AVX plug-in effects appear in the Effect Palette, usually in their own

category under the name of the vendor.

n

If the plug-in effects do not appear in the Effect Palette after installation, see

“Troubleshooting AVX Plug-Ins” on page 44.

Locating the AVX 1.x Plug-Ins Folder

c

This section applies only to AVX 1.x plug-ins. AVX 2.0 plug-ins folders are
always stored in the same location. See “Installing AVX Plug-ins” on

page 37.

When the Avid application is first installed, the installation program asks the
administrator to select 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 locate the
AVX_Plug-Ins folder.

38

c

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.
The Run dialog box opens. You enter commands in the command line.

2. Type

regedit

The Registry Editor window opens.

in the command line, and click OK.

Using Third-Party Plug-in Effects

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 using My Computer or Windows Explorer, you
will find the AVX_Plug-Ins folder in that location.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Avid Technology\AVX Plug-Ins

c

You must place AVX 1.x plug-ins directly in the AVX_Plug-Ins folder.
They cannot be inside another folder within this folder or elsewhere on
the Avid system. If they are, the Avid application will not recognize them.

Upgrading and Promoting AVX Plug-ins

This section covers two topics:

• Updating a plug-in with a newer version

• Promoting a AVX 1.x plug-in to an AVX 2.0 plug-in

Directory entry. The path listed here is the
path that contains the AVX_Plug-Ins folder.

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Chapter 1 Preparing to Work with Effects

Updating a Plug-in to a New Version

This section describes how to update an AVX 1.x plug-in with a newer AVX

1.x plug-in or update an AVX 2.0 plug-in with a newer AVX 2.0 plug-in.

You can upgrade an AVX plug-in simply by uninstalling the old version of the
plug-in and installing the new version in your AVX2_Plug-Ins or AVX_Plug­Ins folder.

Once you have installed a new version of an AVX plug-in, your Avid
application upgrades existing effects in sequences to be compatible with the
new version. The existing parameter values for the 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, the
Avid application sets these controls to their default settings for existing effects.
Controls that are unchanged from the older version of the plug-in retain the
values previously set by the user.

c

c

Promoting AVX 1.x Plug-ins to AVX 2.0

n

(AVX 1.x plugins only) Once a plug-in effect or transition has been
upgraded, you should not reinstall the older version of the plug-in. The
Avid application 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.

It may be possible to downgrade an AVX 2.0 plug-in but it depends on the
vendor’s implementation. See your plug-in documentation for details.

Some vendors allow you to promote AVX 1.x plug-ins to an AVX 2.0 version.
In order to do this you must have both versions of the plug-in installed on your
system.

Once you promote an effect to AVX 2.0 and save the effect in a bin, you cannot
demote it back to AVX 1.x. This is important if you are moving sequences and
effects between different Avid editing systems. If you will be moving sequences
and effects between newer and older Avid editing systems, you might want to
keep the plug-in effect at the 1.x version.

40

Using Third-Party Plug-in Effects

To promote an AVX 1.x plug-in effect to AVX 2.0:

1. Ensure that both the 1.x and the 2.0 versions of the plug-in are installed on
your system.

2. Open the sequence containing the 1.x plug-in that you want to promote.

3. Open the AVX 1.x plug-in in the effect editor.
If the plug-in is promotable, the Promote to Advanced Keyframes button

will be visible in the Effect Editor.

4. Click the Promote to Advanced Keyframes button.
The Effect Editor changes to display the advanced keyframe interface.

n

New parameters might not exactly match the old parameters. It depends on
how the vendor implements the new version of the plug-in.

Assigning Multiple Tracks in Plug-in Effects

Some plug-in effects take an arbitrary number of tracks as input. The Avid
application allows you to select the number of video inputs from the
AVX Optional Inputs dialog box.

n

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.
If the plug-in supports a variable number of input tracks, the AVX

Optional Inputs dialog box opens.

2. Click the Number of Tracks pop-up menu, select the number of video
inputs, and then click OK.

For more information on nested effects, see “Nesting Effects” on page 249.

Using AVX Plug-in Controls

This section provides general guidance for controlling and adjusting AVX
plug-in effects. For more information on the adjustments available for a
specific effect, see the documentation for the plug-in.

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Chapter 1 Preparing to Work with Effects

Using AVX 1.x Plug-In Controls

AVX 1.x plug-ins use a variety of interfaces that give you control over the
effects. Plug-in vendors have the following styles for controls:

• Standard buttons and parameter controls
The Effect Editor for a specific plug-in might include only Avid standard

buttons and parameter controls, or it might include additional custom
controls presented in the Effect Editor using an Avid-like interface.

• Custom dialog box only
In this case, when you enter Effect mode the Effect Editor is empty except

Other Options button

for the Other Options button in the upper left corner. Click the Other
Options button to see the additional dialog box.

• Direct manipulation controls in the Effect Preview monitor
In this case, when you click the Outline/Path button in the Effect Editor,

custom controls appear over the image in the monitor.

Accessing an AVX 1.x Custom Interface

42

n

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

To access an AVX 1.x plug-in’s custom interface:

t In the Effect Editor, click the Other Options button.

The AVX plug-in’s custom interface appears.

Dialog boxes that open 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.

Custom AVX Controls in the Effect Editor

This section introduces some of the custom controls that might appear in the
Effect Editor for an AVX 1.x 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 further
controls by clicking buttons on the right side of the Effect Editor that are
similar to the buttons available in standard Avid 3D effects.

The Angle control is an Effect Editor parameter that is not available in
standard Avid effects but appears in some AVX plug-in effects. The Angle
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 360º rotation.

Using AVX 2.0 Plug-In Controls

AVX 2.0 Plug-ins can also use a variety of interfaces to give you control over
the effects:

Using Third-Party Plug-in Effects

• Standard advanced keyframe model buttons and parameter controls

• Custom dialog box only
In this case, the plug-in vendor adds a custom button to the advanced

keyframe interface to access their interface.

• Direct manipulation controls in the Effect Preview monitor
In this case, when you click the Outline/Path button in the Effect Editor,

custom controls appear over the image in the monitor.

For more information on how the plug-in vendor implements their interface,
see the plug-in vendor’s documentation.

Using the Client Monitor to Preview the Plug-In Effect

Some plug-in vendors provide the ability to preview the effect in the client
monitor. This allows you to preview how the effect will look in the Avid
editing application while you are working on the effect in the plug-in interface.
The effect will not play smoothly but you can view the results frame by frame.

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Chapter 1 Preparing to Work with Effects

Depending on the vendor’s implementation this might apply to HD as well as
SD projects. See your plug-in documentation for information on whether the
option is supported and any additional information on configuring the plug-in
to work with the client monitor.

Troubleshooting AVX Plug-Ins

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

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

Plug-In Does Not Appear in the Effect Palette

AVX plug-ins have a plug-in icon in the Effect Palette and in the Timeline. If
the plug-in icon does not appear in the Effect Palette after installation, the
plug-in might be in the wrong folder. See “Locating the AVX 1.x Plug-Ins

Folder” on page 38, or for Macintosh systems, see “Installing AVX Plug-ins”
on page 37.

Plug-In Does Not Load

AVX plug-ins might not load correctly for a variety of reasons. In particular,
even though it is located correctly in the AVX2_Plug-Ins or 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.

Also check the Console monitor for any messages about why the plug-in did
not load correctly.

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

The Avid Application Cannot Render the Plug-In

If the application cannot render the plug-in, the plug-in might have expired or
the plug-in’s system application key (dongle) might be missing or damaged.

44

If you have problems rendering a plug-in effect, check the Console window.
Some plug-ins write more information about the failure to the Console
window. Also, some plug-ins might report the problem as a message in the Bin
or in the Edit monitor.

Blank Effect Icons in the Timeline

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

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

t Open the Console window (select Tools > Console), and look for the

message “Can’t find effect.”
The message identifies the plug-in that cannot be located. You can then

reinstall the plug-in in your AVX2_Plug-Ins or AVX_Plug-Ins folder and
restart the Avid application.

Missing Effect Categories in the Effect Palette

If plug-in effect categories are not visible in the Effect Palette, either they are
not installed correctly or you might have an incorrect version of the
AVXLibrary. Check the Console window for a message that states that AVX
was disabled.

Using Third-Party Plug-in Effects

• If AVX was not disabled, quit the Avid application, reinstall the plug-ins,
and restart the application.

• If AVX was disabled, contact Avid Technical Support to determine
whether you need a new version of the AVXLibrary. See “If You Need

Help” on page 21.

The Avid System Is Running Out of Free Memory

Each time you apply an AVX plug-in to a sequence, the Avid application keeps
the effect resident in memory. When you close the bin containing the
sequence, the application also closes the AVX plug-ins, freeing the memory.
To close the AVX plug-ins, see “AVX 1.x Plug-ins and Memory Usage” on

page 36.

45

Chapter 1 Preparing to Work with Effects

Avid After Effects External Monitor Preview Plug-In

The Avid After Effects EMP (External Monitor Preview) plug-in allows you to
use an Avid Mojo to view an Adobe After Effects
NTSC or PAL monitor. This allows you to preview how the composition will
look in the Avid editing application while you are working on the composition
in After Effects.

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This is a Windows-only feature.

Installing the Avid After Effects EMP Plug-in

Install the plug-in on the system on which you run After Effects. In order to
use the plug-in, an Avid Mojo must be connected to the system. For
information on connecting and configuring the hardware, see the installation
poster and instructions that shipped with the hardware.

n

You can run After Effects on the same system as your Avid editing application.
While you run After Effects, After Effects uses the Avid Mojo. When you switch
to the Avid editing application, the Avid editing application takes control of the
Avid Mojo.

You install the Avid After Effects EMP plug-in from the Avid application CD­ROM as you would install one of the auxiliary applications such as FilmScribe
or MediaLog.

®

composition on an external

46

To install the Avid After Effects EMP plug-in:

1. On the system that runs After Effects, quit all Windows XP applications.

2. Insert the Avid editing application CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive.
If the installer does not automatically start after you insert the application

CD-ROM, do the following:
a. Double-click the My Computer icon.
b. Double click the CD-ROM icon.
c. Double-click Launch.exe to start the Installer.

3. In the main installer window, click Install Products.

4. Click Install Avid After Effects EMP.

Avid After Effects External Monitor Preview Plug-In

5. Follow the instructions on the screen.
The installer automatically searches for After Effects on your system. If

you have multiple versions of After Effects or if you store After Effects in
an unusual location, use the Browse button to select the correct version.

n

The installer creates a Plugin/Avid folder to store the Avid After Effects EMP
plug-in. Do not change the name of this folder.

Using the Avid After Effects EMP Plug-in

To enable the Avid After Effects EMP plug-in:

1. Start the After Effects application.

2. Select Edit > Preferences > Avid External Monitor Settings.

3. Select one of the following options:

- NTSC - if you have an external NTSC monitor connected to your

system

- PAL - if you are using a PAL monitor

- Disable - if you want to want to disable the plug-in. This might be

useful if you need to free up system resources when you edit a
complex composition.

Tips for Using the Avid After Effects EMP Plug-in

You use the Avid After Effects EMP plug-in mainly to preview colors, objects,
and anti-aliased text on an NTSC or PAL monitor without having to export the
composition to the Avid editing application.

The Avid After Effect EMP plug-in accurately converts colors produced in
After Effects to color values that can be displayed on an NTSC or PAL
monitor. It converts RGB 4:4:4 values to the YUV 4:2:2 values used for
video output.

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Chapter 1 Preparing to Work with Effects

Playback Motion

Playback motion won’t be as smooth on the external monitor because After
Effects displays full progressive frames rather than interlaced fields. In order
to view the interlaced video, you must render the composition with the Field
Render option active and then import the composition into the Avid editing
application.

Composition Settings

In order to view the identical image that you will see on the Avid editing
application, select one of the following resolutions for your After Effects
composition:

•NTSC D1

•NTSC DV

• PAL D1/DV

If you use another resolution, After Effects resizes the image when it displays
it on the external monitor. This might cause some softening of the image.
Color representation will still be correct, but the display quality will differ
from the image you will see in the Avid editing application.

Effect Aperture

The Effect Apertures setting allows you to control the number of horizontal
lines of an image that are used to create an effect. For example, if you are
working with DV media and notice black lines above and below Picture-in­Picture effects, you can instruct the system to ignore the lines by changing the
effect aperture.

n

What is an Effect Aperture?

48

This feature only applies to NTSC projects.

The Avid application uses 243 horizontal lines per field to display media for
NTSC video as follows:

• For uncompressed and non-DV resolutions, the system uses all 243 lines
to display the image.

Effect Aperture

• For DV media, the system uses 240 lines for the image and adds two black
lines above the image and one black line below the image.

The effect aperture allows you to decide whether to use all 243 lines of the
image to create an effect. For DV resolutions this allows you to decide whether
or not to use the three black lines when you create effects.

In a DV project the black lines can become visible when you create effects
such as Picture-in-picture or Squeeze effects. The following example shows
four PIP effects. In the first illustration you can clearly see the black lines
between the effects. This illustration uses the default ITU 601 aperture.

ITU 601 aperture
used with DV 25
media. Black lines
are visible
between the PIP
effects.

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Chapter 1 Preparing to Work with Effects

The following example displays the same media with the DV25 effect
aperture. In this illustration the lines are removed.

DV25 aperture used
with DV 25 media. Black
lines are no longer
visible between the PIP
effects.

50

In a project that uses only DV media, it is useful to switch to the DV 25
aperture setting. In a project using uncompressed or mixed resolution media,
use the ITU 601 aperture.

Changing the Effect Aperture

To change the effect aperture:

1. Double-click General in the Settings scroll list in the Project window.
The General Settings dialog box is displayed.

Effect Aperture

2. Select one of the following Effect Aperture options:

- DV25: Select this setting when you are using DV media exclusively.

- ITU 601 (default): Select this setting when you are using

uncompressed media or mixed resolutions.

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Chapter 1 Preparing to Work with Effects

52

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

Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing

Deconstructing Effects

Breaking down existing effects into their basic elements provides one good
way to understand how the Avid editing application builds effects. By learning
how the various pieces fit together, and how the application 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 3D
wipe effect

54

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 246.

Effect template applied repeatedly to crop and
position foreground images on V2.
See “Applying an Effect Template” on

page 157.

Nested segments
add more layers to
the foreground track.
See “Nesting Effects”

on page 249.

Submaster segment, created from collapsed
layers, forms the background on V1.
See “Submaster Editing” on page 256.

Various effect parameters are adjusted throughout to
soften, distort, or position images.
See “Using the Effect Editor” on page 90.

Title graphics imported as Matte Key effects.
See “Working with Imported Graphics and Animation”

on page 246.

Keyed titles are faded in and out.
See “Using the Fade Effect Button” on

page 64.

Dissolve sequence forms the foreground on V2.
See “Applying an Effect to Multiple Transitions” on page 59
and “Working with Transition Effects” on page 65.

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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 24. For information on individual effects, see the effects

reference guide or the Help.

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 95.

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 double­clicking 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 69.

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 “First Edits” in the Help.

2. Open the Effect Palette.
For more information, see “Displaying the Effect Palette” on page 31.

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

page 29.

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

56

For

Applying Effects to a Sequence

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

n

n

Double-Clicking an Effect Icon in the Effect Palette

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 opens. For more
information, see “Sizing the Effect to Fit the Media” on page 79.

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 “First Edits” in the Help.

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Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing

2. Open the Effect Palette.
For more information, see “Displaying the Effect Palette” on page 31.

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.

n

n

n

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 opens. For more
information, see “Sizing the Effect to Fit the Media” on page 79.

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

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

For information about editing a sequence, see “First Edits” in the Help.

2. Click the Trim mode button in the Timeline to enter Trim mode.

3. Open the Effect Palette.

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

5. Double-click the effect icon in the Effect Palette.
The effect icon appears in the Timeline and the Avid editing application

exits Trim mode.

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 opens. For more
information, see “Sizing the Effect to Fit the Media” on page 79.

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

“Creating a Dissolve in Trim Mode” on page 66.

58

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. The Avid editing application allows you to perform this procedure
only if one of the transitions already has an effect on it.

2. Select Tools > Effect Editor.

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

Applying Effects to a Sequence

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.

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Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing

For more information, see “Displaying the Effect Palette” on page 31.

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.

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

Effect to Fit the Media” on page 79.

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.

n

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.

60

Selection box

Applying Effects to a Sequence

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

3. Release the mouse button.
The Avid editing application 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.

5. Open the Effect Palette.
For more information, see “Displaying the Effect Palette” on page 31.

6. Double-click the effect’s icon that you want to apply to the segments.
The Avid editing application applies the effect to the highlighted segments

in the Timeline.

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Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing

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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c

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 Help.

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

To open the Effect Editor, select Tools > Effect Editor.

Deleting Effects in a Sequence

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 Help.

n

The effect is removed.

When you delete an effect from a sequence, the Avid editing application does
not delete the associated media file. To delete the effect’s media file, you must
manually remove it from the drive. The application 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 195.

Deleting Multiple Transition Effects

To delete multiple transition effects:

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

2. Do one of the following:
t In the Tool palette, click the Remove Effect button.

For information on opening the Tool palette, see “Using the Tool
Palette” in the Help.

t Click the Delete button.

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.

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Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing

3. Do one of the following:
t In the Tool palette, click the Remove Effect button.

For information on opening the Tool palette, see “Using the Tool
Palette” in the Help.

t Click the Delete button.

Using the Fade Effect Button

You can use the Fade Effect button to fade segment effects quickly and easily.
A dialog box opens 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 that contains the effect.

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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.

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

in the Help.
The Fade Effect dialog box opens.

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 the effects reference guide or the Help.

Applying a Dissolve Effect

Working with Transition Effects

One of the most common transition effects is a dissolve. You can use the
following methods 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 66.

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

page 66.

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

and the Tail Fade Button” on page 67.

• 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 69.

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Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing

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 “First Edits” in
the Help.

2. Open the Effect Palette.
For more information, see “Displaying the Effect Palette” on page 31.

3. Click the Blend category.

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.

n

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

on page 79.

Creating a Dissolve in Trim Mode

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.

Transition Effect
Alignment button

Transition Effect
Alignment pop-up menu

Transition Effect Duration box

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Working with Transition Effects

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

n

Adding Dissolves with the Head Fade Button and the Tail Fade Button

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

3. Click the Transition Effect Alignment button, and select the effect’s
position relative to the cut point.

For an explanation of the Transition Effect Alignment button selections,
see “Transition Parameters” in the Help.

You can use the Head Fade button and the 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 the 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 Help.

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

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 Avid editing
application 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.

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Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing

If you select more than one track, the editing application 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. Select Tools > Command Palette.

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

5. Click the Head Fade button 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.

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 opens.

Do one of the following:

68

t Click Size to Fit.

The Avid editing application 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 79.

t Click Skip Track.

The Avid editing application 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 Avid editing application 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

• Film Dissolve (available on some Avid editing applications)

• Film Fade (available on some Avid editing applications)

• Fade to Color

• Fade from Color

• Dip to Color

Working with Transition Effects

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 72.

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. In the Tool palette, click the Quick Transition button.
For information on opening the Tool palette, see “Using the Tool Palette”

in the Help.

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Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing

The Quick Transition dialog box opens.

Graphical display
of media and effect

70

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 76.

3. Click the Add pop-up menu, and select a transition effect.

For an explanation of individual effects shown in the menu, see “Blend
Effects” in the Help.

Working with Transition Effects

n

n

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 156.

When you select a color transition with Quick Transition, the default color is
black. You must enter Effect mode to select another color. For more
information, see “Using the Effect Editor” on page 90.

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 “Adjusting a

Transition Effect by Dragging in the Quick Transition Dialog Box”
on page 77.

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. For more information, see “Understanding the

Graphical Display in the Quick Transition Dialog Box” on page 76.

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

t Click the Position pop-up menu, and select an alignment to have the

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

n

t Click the Position pop-up menu, select Custom, 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.

The Avid editing application automatically selects the Custom option in the
Position pop-up menu when you click in the graphical display.

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Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing

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 76.

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

n

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

6. Click the Target Drive pop-up menu, and select 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.

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.

The Avid editing application adds the effect to the selected transition in
the sequence, or, if you selected Apply to All Transitions (IN -> OUT),
the application 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.

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Working with Transition Effects

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.

n

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. 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 opens.

Apply to All Transitions
check box

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Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing

5. Click the Add pop-up menu, and select a transition effect.

For an explanation of individual effects shown in the menu, see “Blend
Effects” in the Help.

n

n

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 156.

When you select a color transition with Quick Transition, the default color is
black. You must enter Effect mode to select another color. For more
information, see “Using the Effect Editor” on page 90.

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 “Adjusting a

Transition Effect by Dragging in the Quick Transition Dialog Box”
on page 77.

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. For more information, see “Understanding the

Graphical Display in the Quick Transition Dialog Box” on page 76.

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

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Working with Transition Effects

t Click the Position pop-up menu, and select an option to have the

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

t Click the Position pop-up menu, select Custom, 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.

n

The Avid editing application 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 76.

The Avid editing application 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 the Target Drive pop-up menu, and select 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.

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Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing

The Avid editing application adds the selected effect to all the transitions
between the marked IN and OUT points on the selected tracks in the
sequence.

n

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

Effect to Fit the Media” on page 79.

Understanding the Graphical Display in the Quick Transition Dialog Box

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.

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

Outgoing media

Frames of
incoming media
available for the
effect

Transition effect

Alignment buttonsHandle on incoming media

Handle on outgoing media

Incoming media

Frames of
outgoing media
available for the
effect

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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.

Working with Transition Effects

• Three alignment buttons. These buttons appear when you click the
Position button and select Custom or when you 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.

The Avid editing application 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.

Adjusting a Transition Effect by Dragging in the Quick Transition Dialog Box

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.

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Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing

To adjust the position of the effect:

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

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.

n

Repositioning a Transition Effect with the Quick Transition Alignment Buttons

You cannot drag an effect beyond the ends of the handles on the media because
the Avid editing application 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.

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

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

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

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
opens.

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.

Working with Transition Effects

n

To automatically size the effect to fit the media:

t Click Size to Fit.

The Avid editing application sets the duration of the effect to fit the available
media. If you have selected an alignment, the application attempts to preserve
it.

To change the alignment or duration of the transition effect, see “Creating a

Dissolve in Trim Mode” on page 66.

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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Chapter 2 Basics of Effects Editing

Trimming a Transition Effect

The Avid editing application lets you do the following:

• Trim a transition effect, using the standard transition trim procedures.
For more information, see “Working in Trim Mode” in the Help.

• Customize a transition effect, such as changing the fade color.
For a description of how to change effect parameters, see Chapter 3.

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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 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

Chapter 3 Customizing Effects

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 Select Tools > Effect Editor.
t Select Toolset > Effects Editing.

t In the Timeline toolbar, click the Effect Mode button.

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 91 and “Understanding the Effect
Preview Monitor” on page 83.

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Effect Editor

Timeline

Effect Preview
monitor

Customizing the Effect Display

n

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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Chapter 3 Customizing Effects

n

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. The following table describes the buttons in the toolbar that
you use to play and adjust the effect.

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 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 163.

Play Preview Plays back a wire-frame preview of an unrendered effect.

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Customizing the Effect Display

Effect Preview Monitor Toolbar Buttons (Continued) (Continued)

Button Description

Play Loop Plays back the current effect repeatedly in a loop. 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 163.

Dual Split Click to divide the Effect Preview monitor in half, showing the

image with and without the effect applied. Click again to remove.

Reduce Reduces the size of the image in the Effect Preview monitor.

Enlarge Enlarges the size of the image in the Effect Preview monitor.

You can also Ctrl+click in the Effect Preview monitor to enlarge
the image.

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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Chapter 3 Customizing Effects

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 In the Tool palette, click the Grid button.

For information on opening the Tool palette, see “Using the Tool Palette”
in the Help.

t In the Effect Editor, click the Grid button.

To open the Effect Editor, select Tools > Effect Editor.

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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To display the safe title and safe action areas in a Source pop-up
monitor:

t In the Tool palette of the Source pop-up monitor, click the Grid button.

Customizing the Effect Display

To display the safe title and safe action areas in the Source/Record
monitor:

t Click in either the Source or Record monitor and choose the Grid button

from the Tool palette.

n

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 286.

Moving an Enlarged Image in the Effect Preview Monitor

You can use the Enlarge and Reduce buttons in the Effect Editor or 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 standard-size image.
For more information, see “Effect Editor Controls” on page 91 and

“Understanding the Effect Preview Monitor” on page 83.

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.

n

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.

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Chapter 3 Customizing Effects

The pointer changes to a hand.

3. Drag the hand in any direction to reposition the image within the Effect
Preview monitor.

Zoom ratio

Pointer

Changing Position in an Effect

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 “Finding Frames and Clips” in the
Help.

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 Select Tools > 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.

t Select the effect in the Timeline, and double-click the new effect’s

icon in the Effect Palette.

Replacing an Effect in Effect Mode

n

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, two­layer 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 84.

When you are working with the Picture-in-Picture, 3D PIP, or Resize 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 104.

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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.

Triangular opener

Effect name

Using the Effect Editor

Other Options button

Effect icon

Parameter
category

Sliders used to
adjust parameters

Parameter name

Render Effect button

Outline/Path button

Transition Effect
Alignment button

Transition Effect
Duration box

Reduce button
Enlarge button

Dual Split button

Play Loop button
Play button

Highest Quality Render button

Grid button

3D Promote button

Promote to Advanced
Keyframes button

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Chapter 3 Customizing Effects

Additional buttons appear in the Effect Editor, depending on which effect you
are using. For example, if you are working with a 3D effect, a set of 3D­specific buttons appears along the right side of the Effect Editor. For more
information on 3D-specific Effect Editor buttons, see “Understanding the 3D

Effects Interface” on page 267.

Additional buttons appear in the bottom toolbar of the Effect Editor when you
are working with advanced keyframes. For more information, see “Effect

Editor Controls for Advanced Keyframes” on page 106. The following table

describes each button in detail.

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

Promote to
Advanced
Keyframes button

Bottom of
Effect Editor

Bottom of
Effect Editor

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 Windows Color dialog box for
color selection. For more information, see “Using the

Other Options Button to Access Parameters” on
page 98.

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.

Promotes a Picture-in-Picture, 3D PIP, or Resize effect
to advanced keyframes. Not available for other effects.
For more information, see “Promoting Effects to

Advanced Keyframes” on page 105.

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Effect Editor Controls (Continued)

Button Location Description

Using the Effect Editor

Reduce Right side of

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

Reduces the size of the image in the Effect Preview
monitor.

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.

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 163.

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 163.

HQ Right side of

Effect Editor

Grid Right side of

Effect Editor

3D Promote Bottom right

corner of Effect
Editor

Appears when the effect has an HQ (Highest Quality)
rendering option. Click to select the HQ
implementation or the standard implementation with
which to render the effect. The button is green when the
HQ implementation is selected. For more information,
see “Rendering HQ (Highest Quality) Effects” on

page 183.

Click to display the Safe Title and Safe Action
guidelines.

Available for certain effects on systems with 3D effects
capabilities. Click to promote the effect to a 3D effect.
See “Promoting 2D Effects to 3D Effects” on page 265.

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Chapter 3 Customizing Effects

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 83.

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, select
Tools > Effect Editor.

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.

Other Options button

Effect name

Parameter
category

Triangular opener

Effect icon

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 Picture­in-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 the effects
reference guide or the Help.

Using the Effect Editor

n

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” in the effects reference guide or the Help.

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 104.

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. For
more information, see the following topics:

• Using Parameter Sliders

• Using Parameter Enable Buttons

• Using Fast Menu Parameters

• Using the Other Options Button to Access Parameters

• Adjusting a Color Parameter

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Chapter 3 Customizing Effects

n

For reference information on all effect parameters, see the effects reference
guide or the Help.

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

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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.

To change the value of a parameter that has a slider, click the slider and
do one or more of the following:

t Move the slider with the mouse.
t Type a new value using the numeric keypad.
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.

To turn a parameter on or off 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. For example, border types for 3D effects are on the
same Fast menu.

To select an additional parameter:

t In the parameter, click the Fast Menu button, and then select an option.

Using the Effect Editor

Pop-up menu
showing other
parameters

Fast Menu button

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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 Next to the effect name or in a parameter category, click the Other Options

button.
A dialog box opens in which you set the additional parameters.

n

You also use the Other Options button to use the parameters for third-party
plug-in effects, for the Windows Color dialog box, 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 using the eyedropper or
the Windows Color dialog box 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.

The Avid editing application 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 In a color parameter pane, click the Other Options button.

The Windows Color dialog box opens.

Using the Effect Editor

Default
choices

Custom
colors
palette

Color|Solid box Currently selected color Color matrix

Color slider

Color
selection
text
boxes

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Chapter 3 Customizing Effects

To use the Windows Color dialog box:

1. To select 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 select a color, and then drag the color

t Type numerical values for each color component in the color selection

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 select the displayed solid color by double-clicking 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 select a custom color from the Windows Color dialog box, click the
color you want.

5. Click OK.
The Windows Color dialog box closes, and the color is applied to the

parameter in the Effect Editor.

slider to adjust the amount of white and black in the color.

text boxes.

Understanding Keyframes

You use 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.

Standard 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 using the Effect Editor.

Starting keyframe Ending keyframeSelected keyframe (pink)Add Keyframe button

100