David Braswell
Forum Replies Created
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Niccolo if you are saying that you can’t make changes to the project file once it’s transferred to the Mac, you’re probably having a permissions problem. I run into them when transferring from Windows Vista 64 to Mac. You’ll need to set permissions from the “info” menu on the Mac. Unfortunately, I’ve sometimes had to change ownership of files before I could make changes to them. I do this from a terminal window, but it’s a bit more involved (and dangerous) so hopefully you won’t have to go that far.
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A course or curriculum may not teach you the technical parts of working with software. That’s where your time spent in front of the software and on the forums will be beneficial. However, some school may help you channel your creative vision into the kinds of skills necessary to be a productive graphic artist. You may not need to seek a full degree, but if you can audit or take a class or two that deals with design basics, perhaps that would be beneficial.
Regarding After Effects and other Adobe products, the best way I know to become proficient is through constant use and seeking out the techniques and workflows of other professionals. Based on some of the work I’ve seen from designers with “degrees”, school won’t necessarily enhance your software skills.
Best wishes
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[Michael Ozias] “When you consolidate P2 does it make it into avid style media or maintain a P2 like folder structure?”
Because consolidate copies the media (and optionally relinks to the copies), it converts to MXF files on the target media drive.
If you wish to use the AMA feature and retain “sync” between projects on multiple computers, you simply keep the current project file handy to move between computers, and the originally formatted media on your portable firewire drive.
Your last question is a little trickier. When you use AMA, Avid MC will link to the media location it saw the files last. When you consolidate, you determine where your files link. If you’re looking for portability I would probably use the AMA feature, count on carrying your firewire drive and keeping your project files between the various computers in sync.
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If the video clip was simply deleted, why not see if you can restore an earlier sequence from the attic?
Barring that, you can jump to the head of each audio clip, mark in-out, matchframe to the source window and lay just the video back into the timeline.
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Granted everybody works and thinks differently, and Avid can use some “freshening up”. But the idea that the “whole interface needs an overhaul” seems to be a prevalent one. I wonder what kinds of specific changes are people looking for? My wish list would include:
1. Audio sweetening like Adobe Premiere. Stackable filters in a console view, with subsample editing.
2. Fix the DVE interface. I use it but it still gives me nightmares trying to prevent effects from “stenciling” all the way to my background.
Those are my big two and I know both will involve massive code rewrites. The recent additions of sticky transitions, and willy-nilly clip grabbing and trimming may appease the Premiere/Cube/Affinity crowd, but they were not really on my radar. (OK, sticky X’s are nice!)
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Try opening one of the “bad” wavs in an audio program and resaving it. If you have the option, strip out all additional information. Sounds like typical corruption, but I’ve never had Avid choke on audio files.
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It would probably help to know what platform (PC or Mac) you’re both working on, and what format the footage was shot and captured in. As a shot in the dark, Grinner is right. Quicktime using the appropriate Avid codec would make things easier. The only QT I’ve had problems importing on my (PC) Avid are HD DVC Pro (from a Mac) and Apple Animation. I’d work hard to stay within Avid’s codec if possible.
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Avid MC minimum specs (available at Avid’s website) is a good place to start. The HP Z400 line is the rising star for Avid. Media storage options vary, but a minimum would be something like two SATAs in a RAID stripe. We’re currently using the old SCSI Ultra LVD 320 drives from our Adrenaline as well as a 4 TB RAID 5 Weibetech eSata unit.
If you’re looking to build yourself Videoguys has a great article that I’m mostly following for a home box I’m putting together.
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I’ve had the “chipmunk” effect exporting WMVs before. Make sure you’re exporting the same sample rate as your project. I’m not in front of my computer now, but if I recall correctly, it may also happen if you change a stereo sequence to mono when you export. Don’t quote me on that though. Also, I usually duplicate my final sequence and mixdown audio to one stereo pair and video to one track before exporting reference movies or computer files (WMV, mov, etc). This solves a plethora of ills, especially when working with ref movies.
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Thanks, Ron. I figured as much. I post on another blog site that auto-refreshes the feed and I understand perfectly. Thanks for all you do to keep the S/N ratio high.