[Glenn Sakatch]

I want you two to meet up one day, and I want to be there, with a camera. My money is on … hmmm.

Can you not just select the clip that is out of sync and type + or – the number of frames you need it to move?
Is it possible there are other audio clips on lower tracks that are also out of sync?

Glenn

[Glenn Sakatch]

8 gigs of ram is not enough. It says it is only 1.5 gigs…maybe that is all that is left for it to use? In your preferences, how much ram are you allowing Resolve to access?

Glenn

[Glenn Sakatch]

Bad news…the “cheaper” version of caption maker/mac caption doesn’t include aaf output. you would have to buy the next step up…which last time I looked was about 3500 or so. You have to read telestreams matrix’s very carefully, for any product you buy from them.

The less expensive version will output a .scc file, and maybe a keyable quicktime movie? The .scc can import into Avid, but will not produce 709 captions, just 608. The aaf method is the best way to go within Avid.

You can take a .scc into premiere and convert it to 709 there, but only for use in that program. Embedding from Premiere into prores with captions will also fail many qc’s.

Lots of fun!

I always just ask if they can test an mxf to see if it will work for them. Usually it will…you just have to ask them to try.

Glenn

[Glenn Sakatch]

I would start by asking how the footage was transcoded in the first place. (Somebody must know).
If you are missing AMA clips, it is possible there never was AMA clips.
If the media was all made in Resolve, perhaps they can give you the original Resolve project. and you can conform there.

If it was AMA’s in Avid, then yes you would have to re-create those ama links. Create a new bin, and link everything you can into that bin. Doesn’t really have to be terribly organized at this point, you just want to get the information into the box. From there you can duplicate your sequence, and try to relink a copy of it to raw using one of the methods described in other postings.

Glenn

[Glenn Sakatch]

you don’t really require ilok to run media composer. you do require ilok to use some of the audio plugins that come with Avid. Why? Who knows. Its a PITA. Avid really should address this whole ilok is there, then its not issue. ilok is a free download, and you can make a free account with it as well. It is first and foremost a hardware key system that was used for certain products, like protools, and other plug in systems. Basically a single dongle that could store many programs software keys. There is also an ilok account manager that runs in the bg with Avid, that doesn’t require the ilok dongle.

I’m sure Avid used to install ilok automatically, and I never had an account until a few years ago when I bought a dolby E plugin. But recently, re-installing Avid will cause the dreaded ilok error, and force me to reinstall it, and log on to my ilok account. Without it, I think the audio suite tools might not work properly, but Avid should run for everything else.

Glenn

[Glenn Sakatch]

If you are using transcoded media, the drive names shouldn’t really matter. Avid is just looking for a database for the clips. If you are AMA linking, then the person on the second unit will have to relink everything anyway, as the Mac uses volumes, and the PC uses drive letters.
to keep it simple, you should try to use transcodes as much as possible.

I would also suggest the person on the PC side spend the 100 bucks and buy Macdrive Pro.
I don’t trust exFat as far as I can throw it. I’ve had way too many exfat drives develop issues and need to be reformatted.

Glenn

[Glenn Sakatch]

Yes, I’ve been doing a ton of these lately. Just set up an xdcam – mxf op1a preset under your typical export settings. You will see there are no options for you to change other than selected tracks and edit range.

Glenn

[Glenn Sakatch]

Try a test out of resolve, using 1 version at video levels in your deliver settings, and another using data levels in your delivery settings. After effects is probably assuming the wrong setting, and if it is like Premiere, I don’t think you can change how it is interpreting the footage. This way you can figure out who it is interpreting it.

Glenn

[Glenn Sakatch]

As with most, I have audio folders and bins, which might have music, sfx, voiceover, mixes and fx folders and bins, which might have shots to pull, motion fx, vfx returns. It all depends on the complexity of the project.

I keep everything organized, much in the structure that the workflow went through to complete the tasks.
This helps especially if an assistant does some of the work, and I have to go back through to see where an issue might have occurred. As a small shop, If I use assistants, its usually for the start of the project to help get things rolling, and then I’m on my own after that.

I would typically have a folder called ‘camera raw’ with bins for each day and a/b camera organized.

If transcoded, then I would have the transcodes in their own folder/bin structure.

Then the clips get the audio sync treatment, which creates a new set of clips.

I usually keep the grouped clips with sync audio in their own bin, just so they are there if I ever need to go back.
I then duplicate those clips and organize them into my “scenes to edit” bins.

Yes, its a lot of folders and bins, which may never be opened again, but they are there if needed.

For features and shorts, I have a folder called “scenes to edit” and a folder called “edited scenes”
In those folders are individual bins for each scene number, or depending on the structure of the show a bin might cover several scenes.

In Scenes to edit, I leave it in film strip mode, with the shots laid out in a grid. top to bottom are the shot numbers,
(sc1, Sc 1A, Sc 1B etc) left to right are the takes, so each clip has been renamed to Sc1 Tk1, SC1 Tk2 etc. I usually make sure the thumbnail is an accurate representation of the shot itself, rather than just the first frame, which may be a slate, or a boom operator standing by.

As a scene is cut it is placed in the cooresponding “edited scenes” bin, and then later used as a source for the assembly process. The assembled edits are ofcourse placed in their own bin.

As a guy who also does colour work on projects done by other editors, I really appreciate getting a project from someone with a high level of organization. Just makes it so much easier to figure out where stuff came from if something goes off the rails. I have had to call up editors and ask which version was the final version because the naming was all over the place, and there were layers upon layers of video that were covering other shots, and I wasn’t sure if this was the locked sequence or not. (clean it up if you are sending out of house at some point). Don’t make me relink to 5 layers of video if only 1 is needed in the final version.

It also helps me if I have to come back to something months later. I’m not looking at the project saying “what the hell was I doing here?”

Glenn

[Glenn Sakatch]

Unfortunately, there is no way within Avid to tell the box that a particular drive letter in Windows is the same as a particular volume name in Mac. Resolve allows this in a shared database environment, but Avid does not.

Having done this myself with a 9 month shoot a couple of years ago, I feel your pain. My solution was to copy the project over, which I assume you have done. Leave the original amas in their current location. (always keep your original ama’s)

Create a new bin called mac links, or something like that. Use the alt drag method to drag all your red clips into this new bin. (or perhaps the source browser will work as well, depending on your folder structures)

This will create a set of new amas in this bin, but it will also update the path of your original amas in their original locations. Once all the clips are in, you should be able to delete the ‘mac links” bin, and use the original links as if nothing had ever happened. A bit more time consuming than just entering a new path for files…which I have been asking for in the ama world for years, but it does work.

Glenn