AVID NOTES – DAY WITH PAUL
When setting up a project, set to EXTERNAL. Avid Projects – New Project – Name it. Select format.
SETTINGS when setting up Project
Create Folders and Bins. In the Bin settings I can change the auto save time.
Set Font and Size in all windows. To make larger/darker, select Bin/Window and to up to Edit – Set Font (Arial Black 16). I can also change the background Color of my Bins.
GO THROUGH THE SETTINGS TAB:
á AMA- Use active bin
á GENERAL – lets me set up the starting Timecode
á IMPORT – Whenever I choose, File – Import, it will take whatever file I select (video, still, audio) and conver it to a MXF file, doubling my media space on my hard drive. Select Resize Image to fit format raster, Paul said to choose, Do Not Resize for Smaller images. Change still frame duration. Under Video Mapping, I recommend that you choose 601SD or 709HD for the video color space unless you know that it was created in the RGB Color Space. Select Alpha Channel settings here
á COMPOSER –
á TO ASSIGN BUTTONS TO THE KEYBOARD, go up to Tools – Command Pallette and open the Keyboard settings
á Set up Columns in Bins
á MEDIA CREATION SETTING – Import and Capture should be set to my Media Drive or whatever drive I want it to go to. When working with high resolution graphics and photographs, it's often nice to be able to keep the files at their native resolution, rather than converting them to the video resolution that's set within
á TIMELINE-
Next up, I want to talk about AMA. Now there are a couple of changes here that I quickly want to cover. Let me go over to an empty bin here, instead of needing to go through the menu, going to the File and then AMA link, you can actually drag and drop your clips right into the bin. them.AMAÕingMedia Creation, bringing in clips/folders without using import and
Or, if I hold down Alt or Option on a Mac, it will AMA link. As you can see, the file was brought in and I've linked to this file via AMA. We bring that up again. media creation settings.I've got a folder of clips right here (in the Finder drive not MC) and you can either drag and drop this click, if I don't hold any modifier down, this will perform an import and it will import this based on your
on a Mac, bring it in and then all of the clips are brought in automatically without having to go through any menus. Again, we'll go over this in much greater detail later in the course. But this is just a quick intro to the ways that these features have changed. Option+Drag, or Alt+DragYou can also link an entire folder, so here I have a folder with lots of clips in it. I'm just going to
click on multiple files and bring everything in like so. CmdOne more thing regarding AMA, you used to link to either AMA file or AMA volume. Now, it is just AMA link and you navigate to 1 file or you can Ctrl click or
The higher # the DNxHD, the higher the quality of the footage. With Avid, the drive that is in bold is the drive with the most space and Avid will want to put media there.
The Avid Attic is like my Autosave Vault. If I crash without saving and I reopen and some of my changes arenÕt there, I can check in the Attic. Close down MC and in the Finder search Attic and go to the file in the Sequence folder and Option + Drag the latest sequence to my desktop (which will copy it to the desktop). I CANÕT OPEN A BIN FROM THE ATTIC. Once the file is on the desktop, add (.avb) after the name.. Then reopen Avid and go to File – Open Bin and navigate to the desktop and select the new bin (make sure the bin with the same name isnÕt open at the same time)
MUSIC
I can AMA music, but it'll bring it in at 41 khz and not at 48kz, so I should bring in MUSIC through File – Import, which will make it a MXF file
DO NOT AMA a still photo as it will come in funky.
Have clips in Timeline display their Duration. Go to TimelineÕs Fast Menu and go to Clip Text and choose Duration.
TO SEE MY AUDIO WAVEFORMS ON A CLIP IN THE VIEWER, have a clip in the Viewer and go to the Timeline and click on the Toggle Button (3rd from the left/bottom), then go to the timelineÕs Fast Menu – Audio Data – Waveform (MAKE A SHORTCUT)
TO SYNC 2 INTERVIEW CLIPS make in-points on both (or through timecode) and then select both in the bin and go up to Bin – Group Clips. Then drop my new synced clip into the timeline and go up to Special – Multiclip Mode (MAP A KEY FOR THIS).
Use the SELECT RIGHT and SELECT LEFT buttons like FCP for selecting everything to right or left (make sure tracks are selected properly for what I want to do) and then move or select stuff.
ADJUST MY AUDIO IN THE SOURCE WINDOW AND NOT THE TIMLINE SO WHEN I MAKE SUBCLIPS ALL THE AUDIO WILL BE AT THE SAME LEVEL AND I WONÕT HAVE TO ADJUST EACH NEW CLIP
TO AFFECT AUDIO IN THE TIMELINE OF A WHOLE CLIP WITHOUT KEYFRAMING, open the Audio Mixer and Gang More than One Track
TO KEYFRAME AUDIO IN THE TIMELINE, open the Track Control Panel (click on the middle icon next to waveform and select Clip Gain and Volume and make sure the tracks are selected and Add Keyframes. I can click and Shift to select both keyframes and a little hand will appear. If I press and hold Option, I can drag the keyframes left or right. If I select all four or more keyframes and hold down Option I can move all my keyframes as a group.
If I want to duplicate a video track and drag it above itself the easiest way is to Match Frame it to the viewer and then to Overwrite it above itself.
COLOR CORRECTION
To color correct an image in the timeline, hover over the image with the track selected and to the left of the timeline below the tools select the Color Correction Mode and after I work on the clip and switch back to source/record mode the effect will automatically be on the clip.
Start in the HSL and do all the autos first starting with Black, Mids and then White by clicking on the icon for each and then finding something in the shot with that color. Setup is for Blacks.
To Toggle between Effect on and off of a clip to see how it looks select and deselect the Blue Dot
KEYFRAMING A STILL IMAGE – Add a 3D Warp effect on to the clip and then go to the first frame I want the image to move and add a keyframe and then go to the last frame and add another keyframe and then select the keyframe I want to affect first and change the parameters in the Effect Editor.
If I want to move the Keyframe, hold down the Option Key and drag it right or left.
If I want to add a Fade In/Fade Out transition, add a Quick Dissolve and change it to Dip to Color
ADDING A 2ND EFFECT TO A CLIP THAT ALREADY HAS AN EFFECT ON IT – Hold down the Option Key when dragging the newer effect onto the clip (if I donÕt itÕll just replace over the effect already on it). Then in Segment Mode, double click on the clip to open the Nest and select the nested layer with the effect I want to affect and work on it there.
While in the Timeline, Apple + A will select all my tracks and Shift + Apple + A will deselect all the tracks.
If I want to NEST AN AREA OF MY TIMELINE, make an In and Out point and select all the tracks I want to include and press the Collapse button (next to the Quick Dissolve button).
TO BURN TIMECODE during an export, make a new video track and set an inpoint and outpoint and drop the effect, Timecode Burn-In from the Generator section and play with the font, position and opacity. I can set Display 1 to be the timelineÕs timecode and Display 2 could be the clips actual timecode.
VOICE OVER
I could just record VO straight through Quicktime if I want to. If I want to do it in the Avid, Open the Capture Tool – click Toggle Source to shut off the deck – Make sure audio source drop down is set to the microphone IÕm using – set it to (or make a VO Bin) – Select the drive I want to save it to – Give it a Tape Name – Mute my keyboard before recording - Select A1 – Click Record button when ready and record button when finished. Avid always seems to crash when plugging in or unplugging a microphone, so make sure to save.
To turn a clip off (Clip Enable/Disable) in the timeline, in Segment Mode click on the clip and right-click and choose Mute Clip and then Unmute it when I want to see it again.
TITLE TOOL
If the V is green it'll show me how it looks with the video behind it. If I unselect it, it'll be over black. Type in the Name of the person/title or whatever I want. If I want to add a shape behind it, click on one of the shapes and then go up to Object – Send Back. I can change the color and add a Gradient if I want. To Save it, go to File – Save Title As and select or make the Bin I want it to go to, name it and choose the drive.
KEYING OUT GREEN
Put my video on V2, add the background underneath it on V1. Add the Spectramatte on the clip to key. Open the effect in the Effect Editor and click on the Blue square and then click on the green in the image
AUDIO SUITE – Audio effects aren't in real time and must be rendered.
New Video Track – Apple + Y
New Audio Track – Apple + V
Make Tracks Bigger – Apple + L
Make Tracks Smaller – Apple + K
New Sequence – Shift + Apple + N
Smart Tool Toggle – N-key
Settings You Must Change Today Eight Avid Media Composer Default
Under the Edit tab, uncheck Auto-create New Tracks and Auto-enable Source Tracks.
Check Activate Record Monitor After Edit. This will speed up your edit. Let's say you select an in/out in the source monitor, then Overwrite edited it in your timeline. The source monitor will still be active after making this edit. If you check Activate Record Monitor After Edit you'll be able to keep on editing in your timeline. It may save a fraction of a second but those add up over time.
Since you're here, if you use Markers (previously Locators), go under the FF/Rew tab and check Stop at Markers.
Uncheck Indent Rows. No matter how much screen real estate you have, this is a waste of a space being active.
Set your Default Starting TC (Timecode) here. It's set to 01:00:00:00. I prefer 00:58:30:00.
Here you can set the brightness of the application, the highlight color in the timeline, default font size and more.
Everyone has their own favorite settings for this. I strongly recommend not changing the "standard" settings, j, k, l, i, o, z, x, v and b, just in case another editor comes in and starts messing around. The rest are fair game.
Suggested key: n
You have to have a quick way to turn this on and off.
Suggested keys: F5, F6 and F7
It doesn't have to be these keys but I like them all in a row. You can also link your timeline views to them as well.
Rewind and fast forward - a/s and up/down arrows
As a lefty, I find it very useful for this to be on the up/down arrows so I can keep one hand on the mouse.
Suggested keys: shift+z and shift+x
An easy way to remember, say, "I'm going in-z" and "exit." You'll also laugh each time you do this.
Suggested keys: shift+[, shift+] and shift+\
These already have default keys but I like these better because the shift key is closer than the CNTL/CMD key and the key to show entire sequence is next to less detail and more detail.
Suggested key: c
I bet there's some percentage reading this saying, "But 'c' doesn't do anything. What is this key going to do?" By default, Option/Alt+c creates a subclip. If you add Add Option Key/Add Alt Key to your c key, you no longer have to hold option/alt to make a subclip. If you just discovered what a subclip is because of me, remember this moment.
Suggested keys: F8, tab and tilde
I find these useful to keep handy on the keyboard. I've always wondered why tab and tilde are play keys when you can use 5, l or spacebar.
Under the Timeline fast (hamburger) menu you have to change two settings. First, select Timeline Color and turn on Source. If you color clips in your bin they'll show up that color in the timeline. Second is to turn on Dup Detection under the fast menu.
In the Timeline settings in the Project Window, uncheck Auto-Monitoring. You can also set the default amount of video and audio tracks when creating a new sequence. It depends on your project but I tend to always need at least five video tracks and two audio tracks so I set my default to this. I recommend duplicating a template project with a template sequence in it whenever starting a new project but that's for another post.
I add this button to my Source window. I don't use it often but when I need it I know right where it is.
Delete the 20 or so standard export settings that come with Avid and start creating your own. Leaving them there only causes confusing when trying to find your custom, regularly used settings.
So essential if you make a lot of sub-sequences to move or steal elements from other sequences or pulling elements to reuse from the current sequence. "Toggle
Source/Record in the Timeline" Patch that button somewhere on the keyboard.
'Find Bin'. I've mapped it to the Tab key. It makes a killer combo with the 'Match Frame' button, which I've mapped to the Esc key.
When you need to check an alternate take in your sequence, just hit 'Match Frame' and then immediately 'Find Bin'. This will open the bin that contains the clip. Now you can use the arrow keys to select a different take, and hit 'Enter' to load it in the source monitor. It's blazingly fast since you don't need to touch the mouse for this.