Imported clips Offline to Online workflow ?

[Michael Hancock]

[Rosie Walunas] “I am forced to manually reconnect – and this allows for the clips inside Avid to be reconnected to the wrong media files.”

Select the offline clips, choose to Batch Import, select the first file in the list and set location – point to where it is. Repeat this with the clips but don’t point them to the wrong files. That’s really your only option, if I’m understanding you right.

Why did you rearrange the files you originally imported?

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Michael Hancock
Editor

[Rosie Walunas]

I only rearranged the files, because don’t files get moved around in general? Basically, are you saying, that once clips are Imported, their original source path cannot be moved? But what if they are?

Also, is it okay to rename/label the clip Name? How would one keep track of the original clip code?

Let say the clip code is “A045001,” then it is Imported and renamed “Race Car.” How would one know what this clips’ orignal name was and then be able to reconnect it back to the original file so that it could be Batch Imported at a higher-res?

Thanks!

[Michael Hancock]

[Rosie Walunas] “I only rearranged the files, because don’t files get moved around in general? Basically, are you saying, that once clips are Imported, their original source path cannot be moved? But what if they are?”

The original source path an be moved. I just try not to because it makes batch importing more difficult then necessary, and where I work we have a very strict file structure we follow on our server If you set it up right the first time you don’t need to move it, but I realize that’s not the case with everyone.

If you move the files (or rename the folder they’re in, or transfer them to another drive, etc…), do this. Select the files in the bin you want to batch import and choose Batch Import. You’ll get a list of all the files you’re importing. Select them all and choose choose to Set File Location. The name of the file you want to relink will be listed at the top of the finder finder that opens – navigate to where that file is, select it, and choose OK. If there are other files in the Batch Import list that are in that folder/on that drive (in the same folder structure as they originally were) Avid will relink those too. Otherwise, relink each one manually to where you moved the files.

[Rosie Walunas] “Also, is it okay to rename/label the clip Name? How would one keep track of the original clip code?”

It’s fine to rename the clips. When you batch import you’ll see the original filename listed in the batch import window, not the name you gave the clip in Avid. It’s pretty smart about that stuff.

If I was at home I’d make you a video tutorial showing you, but I’m away for Christmas. Remind me the first week of January and make a video to better illustrate what I’m talking about.

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Michael Hancock
Editor

[Rosie Walunas]

Ok, interesting.

Perhaps, I’ll run another test, but I also did a test to see if the clip in Avid would Batch Import to the wrong clip, but knowingly and manually selecting the wrong clip, and it did in fact link to the wrong clip. Is this crazy?

It would be great to see a quick tutorial on how this would work ‘offline’ to ‘online’ with all the renaming and low-res to high-res.

Also, any other literature out there that you could share would be great.

Thanks!

[Michael Hancock]

[Rosie Walunas] “Perhaps, I’ll run another test, but I also did a test to see if the clip in Avid would Batch Import to the wrong clip, but knowingly and manually selecting the wrong clip, and it did in fact link to the wrong clip. Is this crazy?”

Ah – you definitely can relink to the wrong clip. This can be terrible if you do it unintentionally, but it can be amazing if you do it with purpose. For example, I receive an animation for an end tag (EndTag) that’s used in 10 spots. I edit them in, they go out for revisions and the end tag graphic needs changes. I batch import but choose to relink to the new animation (EndTag_Rev01). Avid imports it and it’s automatically updated in all 10 spots, saving me tons of time. If the client changes their mind and wants to go back to the original, I delete the media in Avid and batch import, this time pointing to the original EndTag. All 10 spots are updated as soon as the file is done importing.

I use this with music too – edit with watermarked, preview audio. We lock the edit and get approval on the audio – purchase the music, batch import by selecting the unwatermarked version and send out a clean AAF to our sound designer.

That said, if you import a 10 second clip and try to batch import by pointing to a 12 second clip it won’t relink. The time has to be the exact same (down to the frame). So there is some protection on batch importing the wrong stuff.

Also, I recommend Avid Agility by Steven Cohen if you want to get a great Avid book. I believe it’s in its third edition. Or a new book was just released by Ben Hershleder called Avid Media Composer Cookbook. I haven’t read it, but the guy really knows his stuff so it would be worth checking out too.

Avid Agility Third Edition: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1477654356/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1477654356&linkCode=as2&tag=splnow-20

Avid Media Composer Cookbook: https://www.hershleder.com/avid-media-composer-book-by-benjamin-hershleder

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Michael Hancock
Editor

[Rosie Walunas]

Great. Thanks for this feedback. And especially good to know these books would be great investments.

I just got Kyra Coffies’ “The Avid Assistant Editor’s Handbook.”

While this might not be all encompassing, but she has a section on Importing XDCAM media from discs at the Highest Res (and proxies). She notes the importance of Modifying the clips to assign them a Tape name in addition to the Disk name that one gives to the batch of media being imported.

Does this make sense? Not only would I want (obviously) clips to be able to be Batch re-imported at the online, but I’d like that the original clip names come out in the EDL.

I’m prepping myself for an Avid assisting gig where there will be a bunch of archive elements, green screen work, and of course shot footage.

Thanks!

[Rosie Walunas]

Have time for that quick tutorial? I think I’m getting a grasp, but still doing research. The learning never stops.

Thanks!

[Michael Hancock]

Hello Rosie,

Sorry for the delay. I got the tutorial done – you can find it here:

Avid – Batch Importing

It’s about 16 1/2 minutes but I tried to cover everything – importing, batch importing the same file (offline/online), batch importing and linking to different file than the original (ex. importing a revised logo), caveats (file duration must be the same, alpha channels, files with audio), and batch importing after having moved the original imported files.

Let me know if this helps. I recommend watching it in HD or downloading the original file to keep for reference.

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Michael Hancock
Editor

[Rosie Walunas]

Wow, thank you so much. This is perfect! And very clear.

– Definitely thanks for pointing out that the reimports need to be the same duration!
– What about frame size? If it is different and the new clip comes hi-res from an archival house, and the editor has slapped a bunch effects and resizes on it? Would I still be doing some fiddling with the effects on that clip? (In FCP sometimes this has to be done, and eye match.)
– I noticed if stills are imported at a certain duration, that has to be the same? Or can the duration be overridden? (Let’s say I’m starting out with a Bin from someone and I want to Import the stills, but their duration is too short or long for my liking.) I tried clicking the Over ride current settings button, but no luck.

Anyways – that tutorial was fantastic. Thanks for taking the time to do that!

(Also, got the Avid Agility book, and it’s been a great reference.)

Best.

[Michael Hancock]

Glad you found it useful. It turned out longer than I anticipated but I tried to cover a lot.

To answer the rest of your questions:

[Rosie Walunas] “What about frame size? If it is different and the new clip comes hi-res from an archival house, and the editor has slapped a bunch effects and resizes on it? Would I still be doing some fiddling with the effects on that clip? (In FCP sometimes this has to be done, and eye match.)”

Depends on how they imported it. For example, if they have an offline file, say 1280×720, and they import it into a 1920×1080 project and choose “Image sized for current format” it will scale the import to fit the 1920×1080 . Apply any affects you want to it, and when you get the full res file at 1920×1080 import it the same and nothing needs to be updated.

On the other hand, if they import it and choose “Do not resize smaller images” it won’t scale the import to fit the project raster. So you’d have a 1280×720 image floating in the middle of a 1920×1080 frame. Then, if they import the high res file (1920×1080) the same way the image will fill the whole screen and you’ll have to fix all of your effects.

So I recommend you import the low res stuff to scale up – it will look bad, but when you get the high res stuff you won’t have to redo anything with your effects.

[Rosie Walunas] “- I noticed if stills are imported at a certain duration, that has to be the same? Or can the duration be overridden? (Let’s say I’m starting out with a Bin from someone and I want to Import the stills, but their duration is too short or long for my liking.) I tried clicking the Over ride current settings button, but no luck.”

Just tested this – never tried to change duration after importing on a still. Here’s what I found:

You can change the duration to make the clip longer, but not shorter. So if you import a still at 10 seconds and need it to be 20 seconds you can delete the media, batch import the still, choose to “Override clip settings with current settings” and change the duration to 20 seconds and it will import, change the duration to 20 seconds, and update in your sequence. However, you cannot make the still shorter – it will not import and tell you to check the console. The message there says “IMPORT_TOO_SHORT”. So you can make stills longer, but not shorter. You said you tried this – it didn’t work for you?

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Michael Hancock
Editor