Transitioning from FCP to Avid questions

[Michael Hancock]

[Evan John] “1) Where do you locate a custom-saved keyboard setup? Say I want to keep it on a flash drive if I use a different Avid and want access to my custom setup.”

Go to your Project window, click the Settings tab, then click your user settings. You’ll get a drop down list. Select to Export User Settings and put them on your flash drive. When you go to another system, just pop your drive in and choose to Import User Settings.

[Evan John] “2) I am used to dealing with on-air promos, so my style of working (on FCP) is to typically i/o clips in my viewer window (Avid’s source monitor) and drop my selects in the timeline at the way end. From there I will pull my selects into the space I designated for the promo itself at the top of the same timeline to create a functioning piece.”

You can’t have just filler at the end of your sequence in Avid. You can cut in an extra piece of media, lift all but a few frames, then drag those few frames a couple minutes out to leave filler. Avid is designed more to choose the shot you want, cut it into the timeline, choose the next shot, cut it in, repeat.

[Evan John] “3) Something else I am used to doing is cutting (or “extracting” I should say) and pasting. When I extract (Z key) a clip in Avid and paste (V key), instead of the clip I extracted being inserted, it inserts what’s in the source monitor. Besides dragging clips around in segment mode, is there a way to accomplish what I am trying to do here?”

When you extract or lift a piece it’s put on your clipboard. You can open your clipboard monitor to see that it’s put there, then select the clipboard monitor and cut in from there to put the media elsewhere in your sequence. Or, if you’re on a PC, hold Alt when you lift or extract material and it will put it in your source monitor. On a Mac I assume you hold Option then hit Lift or Extract. It will load in your source monitor, select where you want it to go in your sequence, and Insert/Overwrite edit.

Michael

[Jon Zanone]

I use cntrl (cmnd) + V and C (paste and copy) quite a bit as well. In the segment mode, or using in/out, hit cmnd + C to copy and paste wherever you want it (keeping in mind it will move everything down in your timeline). Submasters are also a good way to copy, say a lower third, put it in the bin and reuse it later. Just activate the tracks you need, put an in and out and hit the submaster button (I’ve got it mapped to my keyboard). It’ll put the submaster clip in the last active bin.

Jon

“Jamming our heads full of figures and angles
And telling us stuff that we already know”

Willie The Wandering Gypsy & Me
Billy Joe Shaver

[Evan John]

Hey thanks for answers guys.

Two more quick questions:

1) Is there a way to lower the gain of a piece of audio before i insert it into the timeline?

2) Is it possible to turn off Trim Mode automatically turning on when going through cut points in the timeline?

[Michael Hancock]

1. Load you audio into your source monitor, open your audio mixer (make sure your source monitor is active) and lower the gain. That clip is now lowered everytime you load it into the source monitor.

2. Map Fast Forward and Rewind to your keyboard instead of Next Edit/Previous Edit. Then it will go to the next edit but won’t go into trim mode.

Michael