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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888 I/O, Adrenaline, AirPlay, AirSPACE, AirSPACE HD, AirSpeed, AniMatte, AudioSuite, AudioVision,
AutoSync, Avid, Avid DNA, Avid DNxcel, Avid DNxHD, AVIDdrive, AVIDdrive Towers, Avid Mojo, AvidNet,
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All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
Footage
Arri — Courtesy of Arri/Fauer — John Fauer, Inc.
Bell South “Anticipation” — Courtesy of Two Headed Monster — Tucker/Wayne Atlanta/GMS.
Canyonlands — Courtesy of the National Park Service/Department of the Interior.
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.
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