Avid@ Editing: A Guide for Beginning and Intermediate Users

Second Edition

by Sam Kauffmann

AMSTERDAM BOSTON LONDON NEW YORK OXFORD PARIS

SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO SINGAPORE SYDNEY TOKYO

An imprint of Elsevier Science

Contents

Preface xxi Introduction xxiii

Chapter 1 Getting Started 1 The Editor's Job 1 Avid's Roots 2

Film and Video: The Old Way 2 Working with Picture and Sound 3 The Editing Process 3

Avid's Digital Approach 4 The Many Parts of Your System 5 Avid Editing Workflow 9

Turning on Your Avid 12 The Avid Interface on Your Computer 14

Toolset Menu 14 Project Window 16 Bins 17 Clips 17 Bin Views 17 SuperBin 18 Source Monitor or Pop-up Monitor 18 Record Monitor 19 The Timeline 20 Commands 21 The Keyboard 21 Three-Button Play 22 The Spacebar 23 The I and О Keys 23 Other Important Commands 23 Active Window 23

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x Avid Editing: A Guide for Beginning and Intermediate Users

Practice Starting an Editing Session

Making Your First Cut Adding Shots to Your Sequence

Ending an Editing Session Script for "Wanna Trade"

Chapter 2 Basic Editing Editing Rules Starting Your Second Editing Session Basic Editing Skills

Marking Clips Splice and Overwrite

Source Monitor Menu The Timeline

Selecting and Deselecting Tracks Navigating the Timeline Home and End Moving with the Mouse Snapping to Cut Points The Timeline Fast Menu Scaling and Scrolling the Timeline Additional Timeline Controls in the Media Composer Enlarge or Reduce Tracks Track Monitor Icons Marking Clips in the Timeline

Duplicating a Sequence Lift and Extract Trim Shots Using Extract It Takes Three Marks to Make an Edit Like a Mantra Using the Clipboard Undo/Redo List

Suggested Assignments

Chapter 3 The Project Window Creating a Bin All About Bins

Bin Views Selecting Clips Working in SuperBin Mode Changing the Default View Bin Headings

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Moving Columns 61 Sorting 61 Frame View 62

Storyboard Technique 63 Starting a New Sequence 63 Creating a Storyboard 64 Drag-and-Drop Editing 64

Subclips 65 Deleting Sequences and Clips 66

Getting Folders 67 Settings: Have It Your Way 68

Kinds of Settings 68 Bin Settings 71 Interface 72 Keyboard Settings 74 Changing Command Buttons 77 The Media Composer's Composer Settings 78

Suggested Assignments 79 Command Palette Commands 79

Chapter 4 Trimming 81 Trim Mode 82

Getting into Trim Mode 82 Media Composer Trim Modes 83 Lassoing the Transition 84 Leaving Trim Mode 84 Dual-Roller Trim Mode 85 Single-Roller Trim Mode 88

Trim Practice 91 Changing from Single-Roller to Dual-Roller Trim Mode 92 Media Composer Trim Keys 92 Adding Tracks for Trimming 92 Adding and Removing Rollers 93

Advanced Trim Mode Techniques 93 Trimming While Watching 93 Trim One Side, Then the Other 95 Using the Keyboard, Not the Mouse 96 Trim Settings 96 Dragging to a Mark 97 Picture and Sound Overlaps 97 Removing an Overlap 99

Sync Problems in Single-Roller Trim Mode 99 Enter Trim Mode on Selected Tracks 100

x i i Avid Editing: A Guide for Beginning and Intermediate Users

The Tilde Key 101 Trim Mode Review 101 Advanced Trim While Watching 102 Suggested Assignments 102

Chapter 5 Menus 103 Screening a Work in Progress 103 Menus 105 Avid Xpress DV Menu 106 File Menu 106 Edit Menu 109 Bin Menu 111 Items Found in Media Composer Bin Menu

and Not in Xpress Bin Menu 116 Clip Menu 117 Items Found in Media Composer Clip Menu

and Not in Xpress Clip Menu 121 Output Menu (Media Composer Only) 122 Special Menu (Media Composer Only) 123 Tools Menu: Xpress and Media Composer 125 Toolset Menu 129 Windows Menu 131 Script Menu 132 Help Menu 132 Tracking and Monitor Menus 132

Tracking Menu 132 Monitor Menu 134

Mapping Menu Items 135 Suggested Assignments 136

Chapter 6 Recording/Digitizing 137 Starting a New Project 137 Getting Your Tapes into the Computer 139

Tape Formats—Digital and Analog 139 The DV Format 140

Video Capture Boards 140 Connecting Your Equipment 141 Image Resolution 142

Digitizing Strategies 143 Xpress DV Storage Issues 144

Audio 144 Audio Sampling 144

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Getting Organized 145 Remote/Local 146 Xpress DV—Connecting a Camera or Deck for the First Time 146 Organizing Your Bins 147

Opening the Record/Digitize Tool 147 Log or Digitize 147 Configuring the Record/Digitize Tool 149 If the Avid Says "No Deck" 152 What Should Happen 152 Two Common Problems 153 Xpress DV Editors—Go to the Recording Process 153 Setting Video and Audio Levels 153

Audio Levels 154 Video Settings 155

The Recording Process 156 Logging 157 Batch Digitizing Your Logged Clips 158 Recording/Digitizing Each Clip As You Mark It 158 Recording/Digitizing "On-the-Fly" 159

Digitizing Material without Timecode 160 Some Useful Settings 161 Suggested Assignments 162

Chapter 7 Sound 163 The Importance of Sound 163 Track Monitors 164

Monitoring Only One Track 164 The Hollow Speaker Icon 165

Audio Scrub 165 Selecting the Tracks for Scrubbing 166

Adding Audio Tracks 166 Scrolling Your Tracks 166 Patching Audio Tracks 166 Deleting Tracks 168 Changing Audio Levels 168 Audio Mix Tool 169

Mixing Tool with Audio Tool 170 Speed Tips 171 Panning 171 Audio Clip Gain 171 Changing Volume and Panning on Multiple Clips 173

Audio Automation Gain 174

x i v Avid Editing: A Guide for Beginning and Intermediate Users

Placing Key Frames Manually 174 Placing Key Frames Automatically 176

Equalization 177 Setting the EQ 178 EQ Templates 178 Saving Your EQ Effect 179 When to Use the Different Audio Tools 180 What Level is Correct? 181

Waveforms 181 Using Trim Mode to Fine-Tune the Audio 182 Other Audio Techniques to Fix Problems 183

Using the Clipboard to Fix Audio 184 Add Edits ' 184

Timeline Views 185 Media Composer: Rearrange Tracks 186 Setting Up Your Tracks 186 Suggested Assignments 187

Chapter 8 Advanced Editing 189 Segment Mode Editing 189

Extract/Splice Segment Mode Button 190 Lift/Overwrite Segment Mode Button 192 Moving Sound to Different Tracks 194 Lassoing to Get into Segment Mode 195 Delete Segments with Segment Mode 196

Trimming in Two Directions 197 Watch Point 199

Match Frame 200 Slipping and Sliding 200

Slip ' 200 Slide 202

Media Composer and Xpress 204 J-K-L Trimming 204 Replace 205

Suggested Assignments 207 Media Composer and Xpress Users 208

Chapter 9 Titles 209 Opening the Title Tool 209 Choosing a Background 210 Creating Your First Title 211

Selection Tool 211 Shadows 212 Saving Titles 213

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Cutting Titles into Your Sequence Xpress DV RealTime Effects Button Rendering Your Titles Adjusting Your Title's Length Adding Fades to Your Title

Colored Titles Blending a Title Creating Title Style Sheets Soft Shadows Glowing Titles Drawing Objects

Delete Key Titles with Objects Grouping and Locking Transparency Alignment Menu Lines and Arrows Other Buttons Rolling Titles

Cutting in Rolling Titles Crawling Titles Advanced Titles Suggested Assignments

Chapter 10 Effects Kinds of Effects Effect Palette Applying an Effect

Xpress DV RealTime Effects Button Applying More Effects

Colored Dots Third-Party Plug-In Effects Effect Editor

Opening the Effect Editor Effect Editing Tools Manipulating Key Frames

Effect Quick Review Deleting Effects Adding Dissolves Saving an Effect as a Template Freeze Frames Motion Effects

Slow Motion/Fast Motion

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x v i Avid Editing: A Guide for Beginning and Intermediate Users

Reverse Motion Strobe

Rendering Rendering Single Effects Rendering Multiple Effects

Waiting for Effects to Render Nesting Color Correction A World of Effect Suggested Assignments

Chapter 11 Saving Your Work If It's a Computer, It Will Crash Backing Up After the Crash Saving User Settings Copy User Settings to a CD or Zip Disk The Attic Retrieving a File from the Attic Deleting Bins Backing Up Media Files

Batch Recording Offline Material Back Up Daily

Suggested Assignments

Chapter 12 Keeping in Sync Sync Problems The Source of Your Problems Sync Break Indicators Many Tracks Mean Many Sync Problems Locators

Locator Information Deleting Locators

Editing Tricks to Stay in Sync Trimming in Two Directions: A Review Add Edits in Black Fill Deleting Add Edits

Sync Locks Locking Tracks Suggested Assignments

Chapter 13 Importing and Exporting Types of Files Importing

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Contents xv i i

Importing a Picture File 281 Computer versus Television 283

Aspect Ratio 283 DV Aspect Ratio and Pixels 284 Color 284

Import Options 284 File Field Order 285 Color Levels 286 Alpha 286 Single Frame 286

Import Practice 287 Creating a Photoshop File 287 Importing Audio from a CD 289 Importing Color Bars 290

Importing Other File Types 291 Exporting 292

Preparing to Export 293 Export Dialog Box 293

Exporting a Graphic Image 295 Exporting a QuickTime Movie 296

Custom Settings 298 Exporting Audio to a Digital Audio Work Station 300 Exporting Other File Types 302

Suggested Assignments 304

Chapter 14 16:9 Widescreen Television 305 Where the Numbers Come From 305 Standard NTSC Video—Not Big Enough 305 The Root of the Format Problem 306 Your Widescreen Choices 307

Expensive 307 Less Expensive 308 Least Expensive 308

Anamorphic Photography 309 Anamorphic DV 309 Super-16 310 Anamorphic Film-to-Tape Transfer 310 Super-16mm to HDTV 311

Practice Footage 312 16:9 Avid Editing 312

16:9 Titles 313 Your Finished Project 313

xv i i i Avid Editing: A Guide for Beginning and Intermediate Users

Multiple Formats Creating a 4:3 Letterbox Version (Media Composer Only) Creating a 4:3 Letterbox Version (Xpress and Xpress DV) Creating a 4:3 Pan & Scan Version for a Standard TV Using the Resize Effect Pan & Scan Effect

Go Wide Suggested Assignments

Chapter 15 Script Integration Hollywood-Style Editing An Example Using Two Monitors Naming Clips Getting the Script Getting Started Linking Clips to the Script Adding Takes Changing the Slate Review Adjusting Take Lines Selecting Multiple Takes Moving Slates Deleting Takes and Slates Loading and Playing Takes The Tab Key Placing Script Marks Playing Marked Takes A Faster Way to Place Script Marks The Fastest Way Moving Script Marks Looking at Your Coverage Page and Scene Numbers Find Script Off-Screen Dialog One Take Line Only Color Lines

Identifying the Preferred Take Other Menu Items

Left Margin Interpolate Position Hold Slates Onscreen

A Select Few Script for "Gaffer's Delight"

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Contents x i x

Chapter 16 Finishing Paths to the Finish Line Room on the Media Drives

Deleting Unreferenced Precomputes Checking for Space

Xpress DV Users Can Skip Ahead Blowing It All Away Deleting Your Low-Resolution Media Preparing to Redigitize Your Sequence Redigitizing Your Sequence Timecode Breaks Decompose Replacing Your Audio Tracks Recreating Title Media Rendering Your Effects Checking Audio Levels Checking For Offline Media Outputting to Tape Connecting the Avid Cables to the Tape Deck Manual Recording or Crash Recording to Tape

Manual Record to a DV Deck or DV Camera Manual Record to an Analog Deck (Beta SP or VHS)

or Digital Deck Digital Cut

Starting Sequence Timecode Insert Editing Edit Decision List (EDL)

What Exactly Is an EDL? Talk to Your Online Facility Getting Started Finding the EDL Manager Saving the EDL to a Disk EDL and Audio Visual Effects

Output to DVD DVD on Windows DVD on Mac

Suggested Assignments

Chapter 17 Finishing on Film Why Film? Film and the Avid The Film-to-Tape Transfer

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x x Avid Editing: A Guide for Beginning and Intermediate Users

Finishing on Film or Finishing on Tape Hire a Negative Cutter First The $64,000 Question The 2-3 Pull-Down It's Really 29.97 Keycode and Timecode Problems with the Transfer Identifying the First Frame with a Punch Checking the Numbers Types of Timecode Work Order to Your Lab Clean Video Copy The Cut List Telecine Log File Setting Up Your Avid Logging Keycode by Hand Phantom Master Clip Sound and the Avid Nagra 4.2 Field Recording with a Timecode DAT Slowing Down the DAT during Digitizing One Bin Per Audio Tape Syncing Rushes Dupe Detection Effects Add Edits SMPTE Leader and Beep Opening the Cut List Tool "Matchback Shortened the Tail of the Clip by 1 Frame" Mix and Optical Sound Track Checking Sync It Works Next Stop, Cannes

Chapter 18 Present and Future Where Do You Go From Here? Information on the Internet Getting a Job as an Avid Editor Other Avid Products Avid's Future

Index

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DVD-ROM Instructions 407