Ben's Avid Book — Hershleder.com

No matter what version you’re using, The Avid Media Composer Cookbook will be a helpful, useful resource. While the software continually matures, Avid is conscious of maintaining the core tools and functionality; and The Avid Media Composer Cookbook focuses on helping you master those core features. It’s also filled with a ton of tips, tricks, and straightforward explanations. That’s why it’s a beneficial guide for any version of Media Composer you’re using.

"An investment that will pay for itself many times over in decreased frustration and increased time for creativity."

435 pages packed with Avid Media Composer editing essentials and far beyond, including tips, tricks, and explanations not found in other publications. Its "cookbook" (step-by-step), task-based approach (plus three appendices) will help users at all experience levels gain a deeper, more thorough, understanding of the software so they can spend less time dealing with technical and operational issues and, instead, focus on being creative. Much more information about the book is below.

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ABOUT THE BOOK

435 pages; Available in Paperback or E-Book — An expert and clear resource filled with highly effective "recipes" of easy to follow steps for those at all experience levels. Gain Avid Media Composer (and Avid Symphony) essentials and far beyond, including techniques, tips, tricks, and helpful explanations not found in other publications. Its 435 page task-based approach, and three informative appendices, will help editors at all experience levels gain a deeper, more thorough understanding of the software.

The book is designed so that you can read it chapter by chapter, or jump to a specific "recipe" when needed. It will greatly aid in achieving mastery of the professional editing features that Avid Media Composer offers. You’ll learn not only how to perform a task or editing operation, but also why and how it works, in addition to what situations it’s useful.

Gain exposure to options and methods that you never knew were available. The step-by-step recipes are packed with practical examples of time-saving tools and methods to get you working faster and more confidently so that you can spend less time dealing with technical and operational issues and instead focus on being creative.

TECHNICAL REVIEWERS

Oliver Peters
Michael Phillips
Roger Shufflebottom

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1:
Getting Assets into Your Media Composer Project

Introduction
A strategy for project organization at the desktop level
Understanding Media Creation settings
Mixing frame rates
Tape capture tip: Adding Markers while Capturing
Tape capture tip: Making Subclips while Capturing
Logging clips tip: Logging from the keyboard
Logging clips tip: Keeping the Capture Tool active after logging a clip
Quickly calculating total duration of clips (or any items in a bin)
Combining available drive space and/or controlling where media is stored
Making sure your Batch Capture continues without you
Modifying clips before capture
Modifying clips after capture: Adding tracks
Modifying clips after capture: Deleting tracks
Capturing and editing at the same time
Preparing to use AMA (Avid Media Access): Getting the plug-ins
AMA (Avid Media Access) Linking
Getting the AMA file's image to display as desired
Consolidating (copying) AMA Master Clips
Transcoding AMA linked clips before beginning to edit
Transcoding AMA Master Clips after editing has begun
Consolidating an AMA sequence or subclips
Transcoding an AMA sequence
Importing stills and video files such as QuickTime
Importing audio
Adjusting audio levels before editing
Adjusting audio pan settings before editing
Setting stereo-audio tracks

Chapter 2:
Customizing Your Work Environment

Settings overview
Creating Site Settings
User Profile Settings – transferring to another workstation
Interface settings
Font size adjustment
Creating Bin Views
Creating Timeline Views
Customizing Workspaces
Creating Bin Layouts
Linking Bin Layouts with Workspaces
Linking other settings with Workspaces
Mapping Workspaces and Bin Layouts
Mapping buttons and menu selections

Chapter 3:
Polishing Gems

Understanding Track Sensitivity
Snapping actions for the Position Indicator and in Segment Mode
Enabling and disabling all Track Selectors from the keyboard
Enabling and disabling Track Selectors using the Shift key plus drag method
Enabling and disabling Track Selectors using the Lasso
Replace Edit: How and why
Sync Point Editing: How and why
Seeing source material in the Timeline Window
Clipboard tips
Using the Match Frame function
Using the Reverse Match Frame function
Setting clip colors in a bin
Setting clip colors in the Timeline Window

Chapter 4:
Creating Split Edits

Creating a Split Edit with Double Roller or Overwrite Trim
Creating a Split Edit with the Extend function
Creating a Split Edit with Asymmetric Trimming

Chapter 5:
Maintaining and Regaining Sync

Adding Filler within a sequence with Splice or Overwrite
Adding Filler at the end of a sequence
Sync Break Indicators: Understanding them and making your own
Splicing and Extracting: Methods for staying in sync without Sync Locks
Segment Mode: Methods for staying in sync
Using the option/Alt + Add Edit method to stay in sync in Trim Mode
Asymmetric Trimming type 1: A-Side/B-Side
Asymmetric Trimming type 2: Two Heads/Two Tails
Opening up the sequence using Splice with Sync Locks enabled
Extracting with Sync Locks enabled
Extending using Ripple Trim with Sync Locks enabled
Shortening using Ripple Trim with Sync Locks enabled
Getting back in sync

Chapter 6:
Managing Your Media Files

Moving media files
Copying a borrowed clip's media
Sharing clips/backing-up clips
Consolidating Subclips
Consolidating Sequences
Transcoding Sequences for archiving or before up-res
Transcoding Sequences of mixed SD and HD video
Changing the Sample Rate of clips in a bin before editing them into your sequence
Changing the mismatched audio that has been edited into your sequence
Prevent editing with audio that does not match the Project's Sample Rate
Setting the Media Tool display
Borrowing a clip from another project
How to determine where media files are stored and how to move them
Isolating video of a specific resolution
Deleting specific media files from clips (for example, just the A3 and A4 files)
Deleting unused media files: Just Master Clips, just Precomputes, or both
Locking Clips and Sequences
Locking sequences to make them less easily editable

Chapter 7:
Mono and Stereo Audio Mixing

Understanding the Track Control Panel and Keyframe Selection Tool
Understanding the Audio Mixer Tool – Clip Mode
Understanding the Audio Mixer Tool – Auto Mode
Understanding the Audio Tool (Audio Meters)
Understanding Clip Gain and Pan versus Volume and Pan Automation
Understanding Audio Project Settings
Performing audio scrubbing: digital type scrubbing
Performing audio scrubbing: analogue type scrubbing
Displaying Audio Waveforms (also known as Sample Plot)
Displaying Clip Gain, Volume Automation, and Pan Automation in the Timeline
Clip Mode Level and Pan Adjustments
Using Clip Mode with Dissolves to smooth Level and Pan adjustments
Clip Mode: Setting a common Level or Pan to multiple segments
Clip Mode: Adjusting multiple segments by a uniform amount
Manually adding and adjusting Volume and Pan Automation keyframes
Removing/Deleting Volume and Pan Automation Keyframes
Adjusting multiple audio keyframes simultaneously
Real Time Volume and Pan Adjustment
Creating Stereo, 5.1 and 7.1 ("Multichannel") Tracks in a Sequence
Converting a multichannel track into mono tracks in a Sequence
Making Multichannel Clips (Stereo, 5.1 and 7.1)
Using AudioSuite Plug-ins
Removing AudioSuite plug-ins
Saving and Applying AudioSuite Templates
Using Real Time Audio Suite (RTAS) Plug-Ins
Removing RTAS plug-ins
Saving and Applying RTAS Effect Templates
Copying RTAS Effects between Tracks

Chapter 8:
Editing with Group Clips and MultiCamera Mode

Syncing and Grouping clips with common timecode
Syncing and Grouping Clips with common reference points
Creating a syncing Sequence for syncing and grouping clips
Using the Group Clip Menu
Using the Multicamera display and methods of switching camera angles
Swap Cam Bank: Toggling the MultiCamera Display
Editing with a Group Clip – not using MultiCamera Mode
MultiCamera Mode Editing
MultiCamera Mode Settings

Chapter 9:
Output Tips and Tricks

Creating accurate Color Bars and Tone
Methods for setting Sequence Timecode
Adding Filler for Color Bars, Tone, and Slate
Exporting a still image
Exporting multiple still images using Markers
Exporting a QuickTime Reference Movie
Exporting a QuickTime Movie (Self Contained)
Using the Timecode Burn-In effect

Chapter 10:
Time Savers in the Title Tool
Purchasers of the book can download this chapter. See page 2 of the book for details.

Opening the Title Tool and setting preferences
Methods to save a Title
Revising a Title: Two methods
Creating and/or recreating Title Media in a Bin
Creating and/or recreating Title Media in a Sequence
Creating and using Title Styles
Creating and using Title Templates

Appendix A:
Additional Tips, Tricks, and Explanations

Find Bin Function tips
Moving around: Methods and tips
Getting more use from the Grid
Cmd/Ctrl + L and K: Several Uses
Locking and unlocking

Appendix B:
Details on Trimming, Slipping, Sliding,
and Segment Mode

Trimming terminology
Trimming icons and colors
How Trimming works
Enabling and configuring the Trimming Tools
Trimming methods
Monitoring during Trimming
Slipping with Trim Mode
Slipping outside of Trim Mode
Sliding in Trim Mode
Trimming and effects
Smart Tool overview
Using the Trim functions in the Smart Tool
Using Segment Mode with the Smart Tool
Nine Segment Mode Tips

Appendix C:
Helpful Details about MultiCamera Editing

Uses for Group Clips and MultiCamera Mode
Definition of a Group Clip
Definition of a MultiGroupClip
Definition of MultiCamera Mode
Overview: Syncing Methods
Editing multiple camera angles without Group Clips
MultipleCamera Editing Resolutions
Understanding System Performance with Group Clips and MultiCamera Mode

FROM BENJAMIN

Whether you're just beginning your use of Avid Media Composer or you've been using it for some time, I believe this book contains a great deal of useful, time-saving, and frustration-reducing information for users at all experience levels. Further, I believe that this book fills a particular gap in the Avid Media Composer publications that are currently available.

Because the features and abilities of Avid Media Composer are so broad, encompassing editing, sound design, color correction, and visual effects, I decided to focus this book primarily on the core story-telling needs we have every day: essentially getting footage into the system, editing, and audio mixing.

I first began learning Avid Media Composer in 1994 through trial and error. Nonlinear editing and the Internet were still in their infancy, and there weren't any books on Avid Media Composer, so I did my best to learn by reading the manual. My frustrations came when I'd read about a procedure or tool in the manual but it didn't include a definition of it or context when it would be useful. So, in addition to providing the step-by-step instructions, as Packt Cookbooks promise, I've included many definitions of industry and Media-Composer-specific terms, and explanations of why tools and functions behave as they do, along with situations when they would be helpful. In many ways, this is one of the books I wish I had had all those years ago.

I'd also like to mention that some incredibly knowledgeable and accomplished people have helped me by reviewing this book's content while I was writing it: Michael Phillips, Oliver Peters, and Roger Shufflebottom. These very generous gentlemen are talented professionals who you may find yourself meeting, consulting, or working with in the future. I encourage you to read their biographies, which are included in this book, and you'll see how fortunate I was to have them on the team.

Lastly, I truly hope you find this book to be helpful.

7.5_11.50