Fairlight Tips and Tricks

Jogging And Machine Control

by Andy Somers

This month we'll talk a bit about the zooming, jogging, and using machine control. Last time, I mentioned the importance of using the ZOOM function to help you move around your project effectively.

How can zooming help you move around your project? Just zoom out till you see the part of the project you want to go to, jog so that the cursor (playhead line) points there and zoom back in. With some practice you'll be able to move anywhere in under a second or two, even if the point you're going to is several hours down the timeline.

Another aspect of ZOOM is that it affects both your jog speed, and the speed of your machine control when you're locked to video. This works to your advantage in several ways. First, as you zoom out to see more of your project, the jog speed increases so that you can jog very quickly to another area of the project. When you zoom in, it slows down so that you can scrub a small piece of audio very accurately. Second, when you have a video machine online, your zoom level (and jog factor, which I'll talk more about in a moment) allows you to customize the "feel" of your machine control, zoomed in you can jog less than a frame at a time (and scrub audio with it), zoomed farther out, you can jog the video very quickly.

Working at a different zoom level is not the only thing that affects jog speed and machine control, the JOG FACTOR affects it as well. JOG FACTOR is in fact interdependent with the zoom level in affecting the jog and machine control speed. If you hold down the JOG key, you'll see the FACTOR setting over the third soft key (See Figure 1). One way to set this is to press the FACTOR soft key while holding down the jog key. Then, release the jog key and either rotate the jog wheel (or type in a number) to set the factor you desire, then press ENTER. There's a shortcut to this that we'll discuss in a moment.

If you're new to the system, I recommend a jog factor of 12 or 13. I tend to use a factor of 14 or 15, which is much faster. You might notice that there's a total of 16 jog factors. You might also notice that there's a total of 16 different zoom levels. As I mentioned earlier, jog factor and zoom level are interrelated. The relationship works like this: when the jog factor and zoom level are at the same number, you'll be able to jog at normal play speed comfortably. Also, a higher FACTOR number makes you jog faster (e.g. factor 16 is much faster than factor 12), whereas a higher ZOOM level will make you jog slower, because you're seeing a smaller amount of time on the screen.

As you get used to zooming in and out more frequently, you may want to change your jog factor from time to time. Fortunately, the Fairlight has a shortcut to setting the jog factor: Let's say you want to set the factor to 12. Simply zoom to level 12, and holding down the ZOOM key with your pinkie, click once on the jog key using either your thumb or index finger, whichever is most comfortable (see Figure 2). This sets the factor to the same number as the current zoom level. Thus a simple ZOOM + JOG will set your machine control to jog comfortably at that zoom level.

Note that the feel of your machine control is somewhat dependent on the type of video machine you're using. Sony SVHS machines and the Doremi V1 Digital Video both work very well, but the Fairlight can effectively scrub audio against picture with any Sony 9 pin protocol video machine, from 3/4" to D-2.

As a personal preference, I prefer to jog the video with the FACTOR set to one number higher than the current zoom level. Since I usually have a factor setting of 14 that means that, if I'm jogging at play speed, I'll have the zoom set to 13. Then, when I want to jog very slowly, a quick twist of the wrist (with my pinkie on the ZOOM key) to zoom in to level 16, and I can move the video a field at a time.

Getting familiar with the video machine control is very important to using the Fairlight effectively. One useful tip is using the video as a "placemark" for your current location. Let's say you're at 643' in the reel, and you need a bit of fill somewhere else in the project. Well, there's no need to drag the video along while you go grab that fill (or door close or whatever). Just press the M1 key (or M2, if that's where you have the video assigned) to take it offline. Then go anywhere else in the project - look for fill or an effect, or play with something outside the project, whatever. When you want to get back to your place at 643', just press the M1 key again, and presto! You've instantly snapped right back to where you were!

That's all I have room for this time. In the next issue, I'll cover Preparing your projects for Digital Dubber Playback. As always, if you have any questions you'd like me to address in this column, send me e-mail and check my website.

That's all for now. Happy cutting!