Suppose you are working for a company that has recently bought a new Avid Meridien system, version 10.5 or 11, with fast drives, and also has several older ABVB Avids, version 7.2. Since the Meridien system can work at 1:1 resolution (no compression) and perform acceptable color correction, the company wants to use it for online assemblies, but retain the less-expensive, older systems for offline work. Given the different video compression schemes employed by these systems, is it possible to use them together? The answer is yes.

Getting what you need out of the ABVB systems into the Meridien is fairly simple. Because both machines can use the same audio media, it basically involves separating the final cut show into video and audio sequences, consolidating or transferring the audio as needed, and re-digitizing the video in the Meridien at full resolution.

Bins from your 7.2 systems will be recognized by the Meridien machine, so you can transfer them using a Zip disk or a shared drive. If the older machines don't reside on the same media network as the new machine, then you'll have to transfer your audio using removable media -- either removable IS drives (you'll need to install an IS chassis on the new machine), or Jaz disks. If you only have a small amount of audio media, you can copy it using CD-Rs.

Getting Started

The first thing to do in the off-line Avid is create a new bin and name it UPREZ to signify that it contains the sequence to be onlined. Duplicate the final locked sequence by option-dragging it into this bin. Append the word "Video" to its name ("Locked Picture - Video"). Duplicate the sequence again and append the word audio to the second copy. There should now be two sequences in the UPREZ bin. Double click the video sequence to open it in the timeline, select all the audio tracks and hit delete to remove them. (Make sure that you have the timeline window selected when you press delete.) Then open the audio sequence, select all the video tracks and delete them the same way. You will be left with one sequence containing the video from your locked sequence and one with the audio.

Figure 1. The first step in moving your sequence from the ABVB to the Meridian Avid is to consolidate your audio.

Now highlight the audio sequence and select Clip > Consolidate (Figure 1). Select your target drive (Jaz or removable) and the length of handles desired (check with your audio post facility) and consolidate. This will create a new set of audio master clips in the UPREZ bin and a new set of media to go with them. Do not delete the original media, since you may want to use it at a later date. After the audio is consolidated, save the bin and close it. Copy the bin to the removable disk. The Meridien system will read all your SDII or AIFF audio media from the older systems without a problem. If you are on a media network, remove the offline drives to avoid any re-linking issues. And if the sound department prefers to work with full-length audio files, use the finder to copy the media rather than consolidating.

Now move to your online system. Copy the bin into the online project folder and open Media Composer. Create a new bin called CUTS into which you will move the final sequences and rename the UPREZ bin to AUDIO. You can get the audio from your transfer drive to your online drives in one of two ways:

1. Select all of the audio clips in the bin and consolidate them, this time selecting "delete original media."
   
   
2. Copy them on the desktop level by dragging them from drive to drive. (If you do it this way be sure to drag your transfer drive offline before you return to Media Composer. If you don't the Avid may have difficulty linking to the copied media.)

 Next, create a new bin called DECOMP and drag the video sequence into it. Select Clip > Decompose (Figure 2). This breaks up the sequence into separate clips that you can redigitize. You'll need to decide on a handle length for the new online-quality clips.

Now it's time to reattach the audio and picture sequences to create one complete sequence.

Figure 2. Once you've moved your video to the Meridian machine, you'll need to decompose and redigitize at full resolution.

Load the picture sequence into the record monitor and the audio sequence into the source monitor. Deselect the video tracks on the timeline and mark in-points at the heads of both source and record sequences. Clear your source and record out points and select Overwrite to cut the audio into the video sequence in sync. Finally, drag the video sequence (which now contains audio) from the DECOMP bin to the CUTS bin and rename it LOCKED PIC.

Decompose and Redigitize

Return to the DECOMP bin, sort the clips by tape name and digitize. Since this is the final on-line, the video should be digitized at either the 2:1 or 1:1 resolution. Make sure you have an external waveform/vectorscope attached to make proper adjustments to the image, and be sure you know how to use it. While the Avid's internal scopes are acceptable, they are not recommended for use in adjusting a final broadcast image.

When you have completed digitizing, select all your video tracks in the timeline and mark in- and out-points, thus highlighting the entire sequence. Select Clip > Recreate Title Media. Make sure that the resolution matches that of your digitized media. To keep things organized, create a bin named TITLES/FX into which the newly created title source clips can be moved.

One of the best features of the new Avid is the ability to see clips that are off-line in your timeline. Go to the timeline submenu and select Clip Color > Offline (Figure 3). This will color your offline clips red and you'll be able to easily identify them.

Finally, render your entire sequence. Meridien Avids have an option called Expert Render, which I highly recommend. It conserves drive space by intelligently rendering only what is necessary and excluding real-time effects.

Figure 3. To make sure that you've got all your media, color your offline clips in the timeline.

Caveats

I have used this process on several shows and it works quite well. It's an especially good choice if you've done a lot of effects work. In a traditional finish, visual effects have to be squeezed through the narrow pipe of an EDL and often have to be recreated in online by eye. In the Meridien Avid, all effects will be duplicated precisely and you'll retain a great deal of control.

There is one major issue to note: you can't online a 24-fps show in a Meridien Media Composer. This is because Avid has chosen to limit the video quality on those systems to 14:1. To get 1:1 video in a 24-fps machine you'll need the more expensive Avid Symphony. The Symphony will also provide you with many other capabilities, including much-improved color correction tools.

You should also keep in mind that few editors or assistants have the skills needed to do high-quality color correction. Nor is a cutting room a good environment to do it in. If you plan on finishing a show in this manner you should get appropriate training to ensure that you get the best image possible. In addition to the waveform/vectorscope, you will need a high-end monitor calibrated by an expert and installed in a properly illuminated environment. For best results, plan on taking your master in for professional color correction after you complete your assembly.

Shane Ross is an assistant editor. His credits include
Even Stevens: The Movie, Judge Judy, Unsolved Mysteries
and many documentaries. He can be reached via email