External File Workflow? The Straight Version?

[Scott Cumbo]

Just highlight the file and choose “Batch import”. This will re-import and replace the file in your sequence.

Scott Cumbo
Editor
Broadway Video, NYC

[Michael Hancock]

[Lu Nelson] “when I switch back to FCP it detects the change, reloads the file and I keep working.

What’s the Avid equivalent to doing this?”

Batch Import. You’re right that Avid imports all external audio/graphics, converts them to MXF or OMF media (depending on your Media Creation settings), and puts them in it’s own file structure.

It’s not as fast as FCP because you have to wait for the imports, but if it’s just graphics and audio the imports are super fast, and as a result Avid typically offers more realtime than FCP (especially with alphas).

To Batch Import, select whatever files you need to update in your bin and hit delete, choose to keep the Master Clip but delete the media files. All of the master clips/effect clips stay in your bin but are now offline. Now select them and Batch Import. Your Avid will remember the import settings for each file and the original file path so you can just hit OK and it will reimport and autoupdate everywhere the files are used. You also have the option to change the import settings if you need to.

I personally prefer Avid’s method because I keep all revisions of AE renders, photoshop files, etc…instead of overwriting them. Then, when I batch import I change the file path to point to the newest revision. It will import those revisions and update just like you’d expect, but if you need to roll back to an earlier version of the graphic you just batch import again and point back to the original file. It’s basically the “replace file” option in After Effects. I don’t know if FCP can do that, but it’s great when you have a producer or client who decides to go back to Revision03 instead of staying with Revision05.

Hope that answers your question, and keep asking if you have more. Media Composer is a very deep program.

Michael

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I’ll be working late.

[Lu Nelson]

Thanks for both of the above responses. I knew there was a sensible way to do this;

so now, based on what else I’ve read, if I’ve installed the Avid PE Codecs on the same system I’m using AE on, I should be able to render directly to an Avid Codec (which support Alpha too), and which MC should recognize and allow the Import step to be faster, is that correct? (basically just copy and not transcode)

Because I notice from reading around forums, that despite this a lot of editors render to Animation codec out of AE and choose to let MC transcode. Is there a caveat to that somewhere?

LMN

Lu Nelson
Berlin, Germany
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[MacProQ2.66, 8GB, Sys10.5.6, FCP 6.0.5, AE 9.0.2]

[Lu Nelson]

PS–BTW you could actually do what you describe in FCP, by deselecting the option to “Relink Externally Modified Files” in the preferences, and using the “Reconnect Media” option directly on your clip in the Timeline and pointing it to your new revision of the file. I tend to keep “Reconnect Media” mapped to CTRL-CMD-R on my keyboard because I use it fairly often to change source files for clips…

but like I said, my respect for MC is growing

Lu Nelson
Berlin, Germany
—
[MacProQ2.66, 8GB, Sys10.5.6, FCP 6.0.5, AE 9.0.2]

[Michael Hancock]

[Lu Nelson] “I’ve installed the Avid PE Codecs on the same system I’m using AE on, I should be able to render directly to an Avid Codec (which support Alpha too), and which MC should recognize and allow the Import step to be faster, is that correct? (basically just copy and not transcode)”

Correct, but you’ll need to make sure of a few things. First, make sure your AE comp is the right frame size for your Avid project. For example, if you’re working in a 720p project make sure your comp is 1280×720. Then decide what resolution you want to import at and render to it. For example, DNxHD75 29.97. Check that your colors are good and render to the right field order (if any).

Now, when you import your AE render into Avid set your import options to Image Properly Sized for Current Format, 601/709 color, set the field order (if there is one), and if you rendered to an Avid codec that supports alphas choose to Keep Existing alpha. Also set your import compression to match the compression you rendered to (for example, DNxHD 75). This should result in a fast import.

A lot of editors still render to Animation because it’s great quality, cross platform, and NLE agnostic. Plus there was a problem, I believe, with alphas on the Avid codecs at one point. I haven’t had problems with them lately, but I remember a few releases back the alphas weren’t as clean as they were with Animation.

Michael.

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I’ll be working late.

[Micah Haun]

I’ve gone back and forth on AVID codecs from after effects. It’s nice that things import faster, but if you’ll ever take the project somewhere else to work or finish, you’ll need to rerender or transcode it. You also have to be careful as to which codec you use. Only a few of them use alpha (DNxHD is the only one I remember just offhand). Sometimes the one you do most of your work in doesn’t support it any you might not find out until you’ve rendered a long unmatted clip which is now useless unless you render a cutter pass and import that too. Make sure to look through the codecs and run some tests before you do anything.

Animation is just a good old codec with small files, little visible loss and RGBA support. Make sure to set your alpha direction correctly when importing since Avid codecs treat alpha backwards from pretty much every other video and still format. (It uses cutters instead of alpha).

Avid certainly has its problems with the way it handles media; but because of it you have much better links to media. Conforming in FCP is awful because I can have an online clip in my bin and a clip with the exact same metadata in my timeline clip yet it’s offline (EDL from filebased clips is a joke. It takes hour of very redundant relinking due to it’s insistence that the clips you’re relinking to aren’t quite right and aborting all remaining clips.) Some new developments in Avid, like AMA, may mean we get a more ‘standard’ alternate to the current importing methods, but in the meantime we can be thankful for the good aspects of the system while being angry that we have to wait a few minutes to import everything.