Michael Hancock
Forum Replies Created
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I just finished a project very much like this. I’ll outline what I did – it’s similar to what you did but I didn’t subclip then transcode. Here’s my workflow:
I had source footage from a 7 day event. It was all from DSLRs – a mix of 29.97 and 23.976 footage. There is no reel name or timecode on these DSLR files, either, so I fixed that first. Note, the Canon MarkIII does record timecode now, but these files were from 7D and 5DMkII.
First thing I did was use QTChange (buy it – it’s awesome. https://www.videotoolshed.com/product/42/qtchange) to add a reel name and timecode to each of the files on a per folder basis, setting the reel name to be the source file, and generated an ALE. Opened the ALE in a text editor and changed the “Reel” heading to “Source File”. This way I could merge the ALE with the transcoded clips from AMA. It also allowed me to add comments to the clips while they were transcoding – see two paragraphs down for that workfow.
Second thing I did was AMA each folder of footage into its own bin, like you’re thinking of doing. I transcoded every shot to XDCam 17.5mbps. I did this because it was such a small file I could just bring everything in and need very little disk space.
Since I had about 40 hours of source footage to transcode I let Avid run the transcodes in the background and previewed the DSLR footage through Finder (I’m on a Mac). Since I was AMAing and transcoding on a folder by folder basis, and had generated an ALE for each folder’s clips, I was able to open the ALE in a text editor and add comments as I previewed the videos. To do this, open the ALE and go to the headings across the top, hit Tab after the last one and type “Comments” without the ” marks. Now go to the first clip, end of the row, and hit tab. Preview the movie in finder, type notes in the text editor. Preview the next movie, go to the end of the second clip’s row and hit tab, type notes. Rinse, repeat. Save when done, and when the transcode complete just select all of the transcoded clips, import and merge the ALE and the comments column will populate. Saved me several days by being able to create comments while the transcodes were going on.
In addition, adding custom names and keywords to the Comments column kept the clip name of the transcoded file the same as the AMA clip name (and merging the ALE to the transcoded clips removed the annoying .new tag). This was nice because the transcode name always matched the AMA clip names. This may not have been important but made it very easy to track that clips relinked properly to the AMA clips at the end.
Once all the footage was transcoded I took all of the transcoded clips and sorted them into their own bins so I wouldn’t have to deal with the AMA relinking all the time (I guess I could have just turned AMA off, but didn’t think about it then). Made subclips off the transcodes when needed. Edited with the transcodes, locked the edit, then made a new bin where I just AMA’d all the original source footage back into it (this took a while but I found it easier/faster than opening each bin separately). Went to my my media drive and changed the Avid MediaFiles folder to xAvid MediaFiles to throw everything offline. Duplicated my sequence, selected all the AMA clips and my duplicated sequence (added AMA to the end of the sequence name to keep it clear what it was linked to) and chose Relink. I believe my settings were to relink to selected clips, allow to relink to AMA files or something. This was about a month ago and I’m going off memory on these exact settings. Everything relinked to the AMA clips.
Transcoded the AMA sequence to full quality DNxHD (I believe I did 175x). Now I had a locked edit at DNxHD, ready to take to Resolve or grade in Symphony. Only issue I had was one file relinked to the wrong AMA clip – not entirely sure why, but I think both clips had the same name and timecode. Was an easy fix – just load the AMA clip into the source and overwrite the one that relinked wrong.
That was my workflow and I had no issues other than one file not linking properly, and because XDCam 17.5mpbs is so incredibly lightweight and small it made editing fast, smooth, and took up very little space.
You may be able to subclip, transcode that and relink but I haven’t tried it. I don’t know if the Master clip will relink to the AMA clips but the subclip might. I’d either bring it all in as full clips or test, test, test to make sure it works.
That was my workflow, and the project I finished sounds very similar to yours. Hopefully this helps.
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Michael Hancock
Editor -
I learned on Avid and Premiere is pretty close to identical in how the tracks work, but Premiere doesn’t have track patching. The way I see it, all tracks are off and you only turn on the ones you want to effect.
When I worked on FCP it drove me crazy because it seems like every track was always on so I had to deactivate every track I didn’t want to use, which was always more than what I wanted to use. So FCP seemed backwards to me. It really just depends on what system you start with. Premiere does require more mousing than I’m used to, but I think you’ll get the hang of it pretty quickly.
And please, please, please request autopatching or something like it. Makes editing so much faster and less mousey.
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Michael Hancock
Editor -
[Bob Pierce] “If I drag the source indicator thingy to align with the selected targeted track, then the keyboard shortcuts work as expected.”
This is normal behavior. If you don’t have a source track activated and patched to an activated record (target) track you won’t edit the source into the timeline.
[Bob Pierce] “As far as I can tell there’s no keyboard shortcut to change the source indicator thing in the timeline – it has to be manually dragged along to match the selected target track. Is this normal?”
Yep. At least that’s how it was on CS5.5. I haven’t used CS6, but I don’t think they added source side mapping as a keyboard shortcut. Premiere should look at Avid and auto-patching (if you deselect a record side track and select another it automatically patches the source side). Solves this issue. I’ve made a feature request for it – hopefully in 6.5. You might want to make a feature request too.
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Michael Hancock
Editor -
You have the track monitor set on v3. Set the track monitor to v4 and you’ll see the previous clip. No need to collapse the timeline to one track (but you should anyway – it’s good practice for all the reason’s Shane has stated).
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Michael Hancock
Editor -
What general area of the US are you living in and what software are people in your area using? Use that one.
Otherwise, what industry do you ultimately want to work in? If it’s film/TV – Avid. If it’s industrial/corporate, probably Premiere.
If you can afford both, learn both. Sometimes one is better suited to a project than another. For example, when we get non-Avid friendly files and have super tight deadlines we use Premiere. If we get large amounts of footage (for example, 40+ hours), is a longer form project, or is scripted or interview driven then Avid makes more sense.
What type of projects are you currently working on, or do you want to work on?
And welcome to the US! Hope you enjoy it here.
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Michael Hancock
Editor -
[Shane Ross] “Are you talking about working offline res and relinking to full res AMA footage?”
Yes, exactly. I’ve had success with that in the past but wondered just how much easier it had become, or how much more robust. Might have to download the trial and test it out.
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Michael Hancock
Editor -
[Shane Ross] “I use everything, but I’m that sort of editor. I need everything.”
Same here. I’d rather have it and not end up using it than disregard something at the start that may be perfect to use later, but is out of sight and out of mind and therefore doesn’t make the cut.
Shane – have you messed around with the relinking in 6.5? I’m still on 6 and don’t have an immediate need to upgrade. Wondered how much better it’s gotten.
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Michael Hancock
Editor -
[Shane Ross] “Sorry, you cannot do it like FCP does. The best way I have seen is to AMA, make subclips with notes…string those out onto a timeline, transcode that timeline.”
Why are you stringing the subclips out on a timeline? AMA the footage, subclip and make notes, then transcode the subclips. It will make new master clips with handles based on those subclips, but at the end of the edit you can select the original AMA clips and relink the subclips to those (choose Relink to Selected in the relink options). Should work fine.
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Michael Hancock
Editor -
[Richard Herd] “I can only afford 1 Avid license and 1 ProTools license. Whereas I prefer Apple OS, I want to make sure I purchase the correct one for the TV and Film industry standards. It’s what my students want to learn, at risk high school kids.”
When you buy Avid you can install it on either Windows or Macs. You get an installer for both. In addition, you can install it on all of your computers but only one can be activated at a time. Student using it on the iMac? Awesome. When they’re done they deactivate the license and another student on a PC can start Avid and activate it. Rinse/repeat. No limits on installs or OS, just one activated at a time.
ProTools I have no experience with so that might be different.
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Michael Hancock
Editor -
If you choose not to go with Avid, I’d recommend Premiere.
I use Premiere CS5.5 (in addition to Avid), so some of this may have changed if you’re on 6, but in Premiere go to your preferences, General, and check “Default scale to frame size”. You need to do this before you import any footage.
Next, import your footage into Premiere and either make a custom sequence setting or choose a sequence setting that’s lower resolution than your source footage. For example, if you shoot 1920×1080 at 23.976 you may want to edit in a 1280×720 at 23.976 sequence.
Edit as you normally would. When you cut your footage into the timeline it will scale it from 1920×1080 to 1280×720. If you come to a shot you want to punch in on just right click the clip in the timeline and uncheck “Scale to Frame Size”. This will return that clip to full resolution – you can now scale the clip back down a bit, reframe, etc…
That said, another option is to edit in Avid and dedicate one track as the “punch in/reframe” track. So you make a 1920×1080 project and bring your footage in, click the Format tab and switch it to 720 or SD, edit as you normally would. When you come across a clip you want to punch in on edit it onto the “punch in/reformat” track – maybe designate Track 5. All clips that need to be reframed go onto track 5, the shots that don’t require reformatting go on other tracks. At the end, export a Quicktime of track 5, take it into After Effects or Premiere, resize the shots as necessary and export a Quicktime. Import it into Avid, lay it over Track 5 (maybe designate Track 6 as the “Quicktime Reframed” track), then finish color correcting, etc…
If this is a short piece and you’ll be reframing a lot, I’d just use Premiere. It’s better suited to this workflow. If it’s a long form piece and the media management and editing interface of Avid is better suited to the actual edit (or perhaps you need Script Sync or something in the NLE that’s Avid only), go with Avid. I’ve done both.
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Michael Hancock
Editor