TO IMORT FOOTAGE OFF OF A UNITY SYSTEM
• Minimize Media Composer
• Double click on My Computer
• Go to Back Up on Unity
• Find the correct folder and open it
• Open the Project Folder
• Click on the Icon I’m looking for and Copy it
• Put it on the Desktop – Shortcut to Avid Projects – then my folder and Paste it.
FRAME SIZE AND PIXEL ASPECT RATIO
•Native frame size is 720 X 576 non square pixels for 4:3
•NTSC standard 720 X 486 non square pixels
•When working in Photoshop, give it a 4:3 aspect ratio (720 X 540). Once the image is complete, either resize it to 720 X 486 in Photoshop or leave as it is and have the Avid adjust during the import
•If you adjust it in Photoshop, the image will look distorted but will look correct when imported into the Avid
•If your graphic includes an Alpha Channel, use a PICT or TIFF
IMPORTING FILES
•Copy files to an internal drive. Once the files are there, Open a Bin (ie. for imports) and with the bin selected choose File – Import and select the files.
•Choose the Media Drive and a Video Resolution to match digitized video.
IMPORT OPTIONS
•Use 601 non square in Aspect Ratio
•In Color Levels, select RGB when Photoshop was used, but no adjustment had been made to the graphic.
•Alpha- Use Existing
•If importing a lower third, invert the alpha
IMPORTING COLOR BARS & TONE
•Test Patterns Folder in the Supporting Files Folder. Use the 75% ones
•If importing, make sure import settings are set to 601 file color levels and Aspect Ratio, pixel aspect 601
•DO NOT IMPORT THEM AT RGB COLOR LEVELS
•Tone is in the Audio Tool
SETTING LEVELS
•Hold down the Option/Shift key with the Capture Window Open shows 75% Bars
•Same Key shows 100% bars when that option is enabled
TO IMPORT MUSIC FROM A CD, go to File - Import and go o type of files and choose Audio Files and then navigate to the file and make sure it's going to the proper drive and when I double click on the file a window may open telling me that the audio may be at a different sample rate than my timeline or project's settings. So say YES to the warning and while it's doing the import it'll be converting the file. When it's done, it'll appear in my project and I can then rename it.
When I drop my audio clip into the timeline, make sure I only select the tracks on the right that I want them to go to and then the target tracks on the left should be right next to the tracks I want them to go to.
TO PULL THE AUDIO GAIN OF A CLIP DOWN, go t o the Hamburger and check Clip Audio Gain. Then go to Toolset - Audio Editing or open the Audio Mix Tool. In the Audio Tool, select the tracks I want to affect and make sure they are purple. If I want them both to be affected exactly the same, click on both Gang buttons (they'll turn green) and then pull the volume up or down.
IN PHOTOSHOP, THE BEST WAY TO CROP AND RESIZE AN IMAGE AT THE SAME TIME IS to open an image in Photoshop and to see it's info hold down Option/Alt key and click on the doc info on the bottom left .
The size that I need for DV is different than the size needed for SD. Standard Definition video size is 720 x 540 square pixels. DV has fewer lines than SD, so I would set the image to 720 x 535 and I would then crop the entire image with the crop tool selecting the whole image and keep the Aspect Ratio at the same time. If I then hold down the Option key and check the info I would then have the correct frame size of 720 x 535.
Square Pixels vs Non-Square Pixels
DV WORKS IN NON-SQUARE PIXELS. So the best thing to do is to work in a square pixel format and then when I import it it'll turn into non-square. DV video frame size is 720 x 480 but when I'm working in Photoshop and I'm cropping like this, I want to make it 720 x 535, which will stretch it to the 480 when I import it and will look fine.
THE PROBLEM WITH WORKING WITH NON-SQUARE PIXELS IN A GRAPHICS PROGRAM IS that everything looks stretched and looks great when I put it on TV but when working in Photoshop it looks stretched, so it's hard to draw circles and squares, so when creating a new document in Photoshop I can choose a preset at NTSC DV 720 x 480, so when I'm drawing and working with images everything will look great and when I import it into the Avid, it will also look great. But if I'm not working with a new document and I hope a picture that's already been scanned or what not, I still need to think about square and non-square pixels, so remember 720 x 535 because this is what I should be cropping any images that come from a camera or scanner when i want to import it into the Avid.
IMPORT DIALOGS IN THE AVID
Go to File - Import and select what I want to import in (such as a still image) and then click on Options. If I have sized my image correctly for the non-square pixels then click on 601, non-square and click OK. When I open it up in Avid it will look perfect.
IMPORTING VERTICAL IMAGES THAT I DON'T WANT TO FILL THE WHOLE FRAME
If I have a vertical picture (even if it's been resized to 720 x 535), the Avid will try to resize it to fill in the whole frame and it will look stretched and distorted. To import the vertical image to look normal, go to File - Import - select the file and go to Options and choose Maintain, non-spuare (which means it will not try to resize it). This way, I will have my vertical image with black bands on both sides. If I have a high rez image I can crop it so it will take up the full screen.
IMPORTING SMALL IMAGES OR IMAGES WITH ALPHA CHANNELS
IF I DON'T WANT TO RESIZE AN IMAGE AT ALL BECAUSE IT MAY BE MEANT TO BE VERY SMALL AND/OR THEY HAVE ALPHA CHANNELS. Go to File - Import and select my logo file and select Maintain, non-square because I don't want to affect its size. If I know that the image has an Alpha Channel I want to check Invert Existing. This is because Avid reads it backwards and click OK.
If I need to resize something such as making it larger, it's better to do in Photoshop than in Avid and then re-import it back into Avid.
OTHER IMPORT CHOICES
COLOR LEVELS
RGB, dithered means it'll help take away some stair type of marks on a white-gray-black image by adding a touch of random noise.
601, if I've exported something out of the Avid such as a still and imported it into Photoshop to alter I should import it back into the Avid with the 601 levels checked. If I want to match the original video look I need to choose 601.
Autodetect Sequential Files -Turn this off if it tries to take still photos imported off of a camera and tries to make them one frame animations. If I'm bringing in an animation that was created in a 3D program. A digital camera imports
FILE FIELD ORDER
This is only important if I'm importing something that was an animation. If I'm importing still images, it's not important.
MEDIA CREATION TOOL
Very important when working with Graphics. I can also set my Capture settings here and my resolution for titles and imports here. I can set one resolution here for my entire project and when I do, click Apply to All.
If I have fast drives or if I'm using a Mojo, I will have a choice to bring things in at 1:1, which will help my graphics and my titles look so much better. If I use Xpress Pro with Mojo, I can mix different resolutions in my timeline.
EXPORTING
IF I'M EXPORTING SOMETHING TO ANOTHER AVID PROGRAM I can go to File - Export - AvidLinks and choose one of the pre-made choices such as Pro Tools for an audio mix or to take it to an Avid DS Nitrus system, I can export the sequence and then redig all the material.
Other exporting choices are in the Options tab in the export window. If I need to export a sequence I would choose to Export As OMF 2.0. If I'm going to an Avid DS system a lot of people are exporting as AAF.
When exporting something for the web or DVD, try exporting as a Quicktime Reference Movie first.
DON'T USE DV STREAM, it compresses the video too much.
I CAN EXPORT A STILL IMAGE BY CHOOSING GRAPHIC. I then have many choices of my Graphic Format and Format Options. Recommends exporting as Non-square if I'm going to be importing it back in again. If I'm going out to a square pixel program or out to the web, export it as square pixels.
I can save Exporting templates if I tend to use the same settings a lot.