Michael Hancock
Forum Replies Created
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Technically speaking, working in a “true non-linear” way means you don’t have to redo your entire sequence if you need to change a shot in the middle. You put stuff into any order you want and change it however you want without redoing everything. Media 100 and Avid are both non-linear, they just treat clips differently and require the user to think differently. The Avid way of editing is incredibly logical and is based on years and years and years of feedback from actual editors. It just requires you to look at it from another point of view.
If you want your audio and video to stay linked on the timeline (move video, audio follows)–well, Avid doesn’t operate that way. With Avid, it makes no assumptions about what you want to do. If you want the audio to come with your video you have to select it. If you want to move the video only, just select the video.
I know a lot of people like their Video and Audio linked. I personally dislike my editing system to link my audio to video–FCP drove me mad with this, and so did Edius. If I want my video and audio to move together, I’ll make that decision. Very often, I don’t.
Like I said before, Avid operates very differently from pretty much all other editors–particularly drag and drop editors like Premiere, FCP, or Media 100. I’m not saying Avid’s way is better for you–it’s just different than what you’re used to. If you try to make Avid operate like a Media 100 you’ll get frustrated very quickly. Embrace the Avid way! It’s a very capable and fast editor once you get the hang of it and learn its “rules”.
Let us know if you run into more problems or have more questions.
Michael.
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That’s just how Avid is! 🙂 Just kidding.
Avid’s timelines grow as you put more media into them. If you want a long, blank timeline you can cut in a piece of media (say a cut of music), then lift out all but the last few frames or seconds. For example, if I drop a 3 minute music track into a blank sequence and lift all but the last second, I have a three minute timeline with 2:59 of blank. Then you can disable the source side audio tracks and insert edit 10 times to drop filler in for another 30 minutes. Now you have a thirty minute timeline with no media except for the last second.
Having said that–you’ll likely get frustrated with Avid if you try to use it this way. It isn’t designed like that. If you need to insert a shot into your timeline, you should use Insert Edit. It will keep everything in sync for the tracks you have selected and will drop your shot in where you have your In or Out point marked.
To sync Video to Audio–load the video into your source monitor. Find a good sync point (the clap of a slate, for example), and mark an In. Load the audio into your source monitor, find the same sync point (the CLAP! sound). Mark an In. In your bin, select the audio and video and go to your Bin menu and choose Autosync. Choose to sync by In point (if the audio and video have matching timecode you can skip marking an In point). It will make a new clip that contains the Audio and Video in sync.
Or, you can lay your Video and Audio out in a sequence and sync them there. Then Drag your sync sequence to your source monitor to edit. or choose your sequence and do the Autosync again. It will turn the sequence into a synced audio/video clip. Edit!
That said, if you’re learning Avid by coming over from another editor (FCP or Premiere or Edius or Vegas, etc…), it is best to try to forget how the other system works. Avid works differently than any other system I’ve sat down at, and it’s best to just accept it as is and try things the “Avid” way. It will frustrate you at first, but it starts to make sense as you embrace it. Trust me, I cursed a blue streak trying to learn FCP after I had been using Avid for a while.
Michael.
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[Steve Johnson] ” I’m used to the snap-to in Adobe, makes lining up beginning and ends of clips easy.”
To snap to the head of a clip, hold Ctrl and click somewhere near it. Doesn’t have to be very close it it either–Ctrl+Click in the first half of a clip and it will snap to the head. Ctrl+Alt+Click will snap to the last frame of your clip.
Michael.
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Ok, couple of things. Don’t drag and drop in Avid. It’s really not designed to workt his way, as you’ve found out. You really need to get used to using the Insert and Overwrite edit buttons (V and B on your keyboard by default). If you drag and drop in Avid, it defaults to V1 and A1 and A2, and I don’t know that that can be changed.
2nd. Notice that your timeline is all purple on the tracks you selected? That indicated the section between your In and Out points. In the case of your video, you have an In and Out marked at the beginning and end of your sequence. The In and Out marks on your sequence will always override the In and Out marks of your Source–it will start at the In point of your source monitor and try to use that video to fill the In and Out duraction marked on your timeline. You’re getting the “Insufficient Media” warning because your source clip isn’t long enough to fill the duration you have marked in your timeline.
Click on your timeline and clear the out point, then set the In point where you want your source clip to start. Now click Insert to insert your source clip, or click Overwrite to overwrite edit the clip.
I hope this makes sense. Avid is based on 3 point editing–and In and Out point in your source clip and an In or Out point in your timeline, or an In and Out point in your timeline and an In or Out point in your source clip. If you have an In and Out in your timeline and an In and Out in your source clip, it will use the In point of your source clip and will try to fill the In to Out duration of your timeline. If you don’t have an In or Out point in your timeline, it will use the position indicator as your In point.
If you’re coming from Premiere you’ll notice a lot of differences in the way Avid works. Avid works best using Keyboard shortcuts, and the software will let you remap your keyboard however you want to assist you in this. I’d learn the default keyboard layout first, then start customizing it once you get comfortable with it.
Let us know if you have more questions, and welcome to Avid! It’s a great program, and once you get the hang of it I think you’ll be surpsied how fast you can cut with it.
Michael.
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Yes, if you cut a subclip into your timeline and matchframe it, the subclip is loaded into the source monitor. Hit Matchframe again (with the source monitor active) and it will load the master clip.
If you find you don’t need/want to keep the master clips, select the subclips you want to keep and consolidate them. It will create masterclips out of the subclips so you can delete the original masterclips. I do this for long interviews–capture the tape, subclip the good answers, consolidate those and delete the original master clips.
Michael.
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Check your capture settings. You can change the duration limit there.
Michael.
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[mortimer heathcliff] “they are using Avid”
Download the Avid Codecs here:
Export your DVCProHD files in the Avid DV100 codec. They’ll be good to go then, and if they need to import them into their Avid it’ll be a fast import on their end.
Michael.
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[Rene Gomez] “I am working in Avid Media Composer and when import the footage I can see nothing.”
I responded in the Avid forum for this, but forgot to add–
If you plan on editing in Avid, you hopefully kept the MXF files that were imported into FCP. If so, you can drop them into your Avid MediaFiles folder, open Avid, use the Media Tool to show master clips, and drag the master clips to a bin.
Done. All your media is now in your Avid, and it isn’t gone through the compression/decompression of exporting a quicktime and reimporting it.
Michael.
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I’m certain I saw a post from Marianna Montague on the Avid forums that there was a direct upgrade from Xpress DV to Media Composer 3, but I can’t find it, and it’s not listed in the Avid online store.
Call your reseller–they should have it if it’s available. Otherwise, you might have to do the DV to Xpress upgrade for $495, then Xpress to MC for $495.
Michael.
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The DVCProHD codec that Final Cut uses to read and export P2 footage is not available on the PC. However, if you download the Avid codecs to your Final Cut station and export using the Avid DV100 codec, you’ll have a cross platform and cross NLE compatible file.
Otherwise, if you want to see and use the P2 media for your Final Cut system on a PC, you can buy Raylight Decoder for $95. It will decode the DVCProHD files for the PC so you can see them.
Find Raylight here–even download a demo:
https://www.dvfilm.com/raylight/decoder/index.htm
Michael.