TECH TIPS
Secrets of Avid
The Best Features That Editors Don't Know About
by Robert Bramwell, A.C.E.
As an editor who has been cutting on Avid Media Composer for over 15 years, I wanted to use this forum to address some features of the Avid that editors seeking to improve their productivity may have overlooked due to old workflow habits. They are definitely worth a second glance. All the commands discussed here (except for Time Shift) will work in version 12 Meridian to the present-day Adrenaline systems.
There are many uses of key modifiers in Avid. A key modifier is a key that is used in combination with another, such as Alt, Shift, Control and Command, (aka the Apple key). For example, holding down Alt + Command and clicking near a tail splice will snap to the Tail frame of any clip. Also, have you ever wanted to draw a straight line in the Title Tool? Hold down the Shift key as you draw, and all movements are constrained, creating a straight line. Many editors are not aware of these commands, and they can make your editing environment more creative and enjoyable.
Timeline Tips
Everyone knows that a quick way to enter the trim mode is to lasso the tracks
you wish to trim. However, this only works well for trimming your top tracks.
If you hold down the Control key on the Mac (Alt key on Windows) with the
mouse pointer in the timeline, you get a small lasso icon that now can be
used anywhere.
 Figure 1: Right-clicking to rename a track on the timeline. |
In addition, by using a two-button mouse, you can match frame to any track right in your Timeline, even on a Meridian. This is done by parking the blue position indicator on the clip, then right-clicking the Timeline Track selector panel on the track you want to match frame. As long as the track is enabled, you will get a pop-up window that says Match Frame Track. Select, and you are done.
When working with a lot of tracks, it’s easy to forget what’s on each one. A good remedy for this is to rename your tracks. Right-click the track you wish to rename in the Timeline Track selector panel. From the pop-up window, select Rename Track and type in a new name. For example, if your show has voiceover and it’s all on audio track 6, right click on that track and rename it VO (see Figure 1).
Top and Tail
Top and Tail are excellent time-saving macro commands that streamline the deletion of unwanted video by executing a single keystroke to trim the head or tail of a clip. These buttons, which were brought into Media Composer from Newscutter (and were also a feature of the old Epix system of the early ‘90s, when it was called Multi-Track Trim), are located in the Tools pull-down menu under the Command palette, which provides a central location for all user-selectable commands that can be mapped to a single key. For Top and Tail, choose Tools > Command Palette > Edit Tab > Top-Tail (see Figure 2). To use Top and Tail commands effectively, they should be mapped to your keyboard. Typical key assignments for Top and Tail are Page Up and Page Down, respectively. If these keys are currently mapped to another command in your user setup, you will need to find an alternate set of keys. Using these two buttons, you can fly through a rough cut, trimming your clips down to the proper length with a single click.
 Figure 2: A simple use of Command palette buttons to create Top and Tail edits. |
If a clip has more material than you want at either the Head or Tail, then use the following workflow to remove it. Play a clip and stop on the frame you want, or scroll to the desired frame. Then, pressing Page Up (the mapped Top command) deletes all the frames preceding the blue position indicator to the Head of the clip.
If you want to delete material near the Tail, find the last frame that you want to be included in the clip. Then press Page Down (the mapped Tail command), and the frame that you are parked on will now be the last frame in the clip. Avid puts a mark in at the blue position indicator and then goes to the tail of the clip and does an extract (scissors) or tail trim. Keep in mind that sync locks are necessary on all tracks to be able to use these shortcuts effectively.
 Figure 3: Soloed audio tracks. Note the green track icons. |
Changing Font Size
Being able to see your work clearly is an essential part of being
creative. There is an easy way to change the font type and size in
the project window, timeline, bins or the timecode above the Source
and Record Monitors (Composer Window). To do this, open the Edit menu
on Avid’s main program menu bar. In the Edit pull-down menu,
select Set Font and choose a higher number value to get a larger font
size.
Soloing Tracks
To solo an individual audio or video track, hold down the Command
key on the Mac (Control for Windows) and click on the speaker (audio)
or monitor (video) icon on the track or series of tracks you want
to isolate. The track icon will turn green (see Figure 3). This command
becomes very useful when working with crowded sound tracks to discover
pops, clipped dialogue or any other sound issues that would otherwise
be difficult to isolate. If you are working with multiple video tracks,
this command makes it easier for you to view the separate layers.
 Figure 4: Black filler is added to the end of an Avid sequence. |
Adding Black at the End of a Sequence
Go to the last frame of your sequence (you can press the End key to
get there), then select any track that has filler at the end. Use
the Add Edit command to put a splice in the filler track. Then, go
into the Trim Mode on that track, scroll or type in the amount of
filler you need and press Enter. Filler or black will be added to
the end of your sequence. Hit End, then Add Edit (which adds the splice
to a filler track), enter trim mode on that splice you’ve created,
then enter the amount of filler needed (see Figure 4).
Another way to add black is to open the Title Tool and create a Title Tool background. At the bottom of the Title Tool, you will see the green letter V, the video background button. When it’s green, your source video is the background. Simply deselect the V so that it is no longer green. This will make the background of your title black. Now all you have to do is save the title, then cut in as much as you need at the end of your sequence. It’s quick and easy either way.
Timewarp
Timewarp is Avid’s new way of applying motion effects directly to a
clip in the timeline. You can easily change the parameters by using the Motion
Effect Editor. Avid comes with some pre-configured motion templates, and they
are located in the Effects Palette in Timewarp. To familiarize yourself with
how Timewarp works, play around with these templates and read Avid’s
Help files to better understand how it operates. Of course, you can start
using it right away with the pre-configured templates.
To achieve the smoothest, best-looking motion effects, use FluidMotion or FluidMotion Draft. FluidMotion Draft is a faster way (because it does not take as long to render) to preview how your effect will appear in the final product. Because it is in draft mode, the quality of the effect will be slightly reduced, but it will give you a great idea of the final result. If you are happy with the draft version, then re-render the clip in FluidMotion to see a higher quality version of the effect. You should keep in mind that the time to render the effect is greater with FluidMotion, so you will waste a lot of time waiting for a clip to render if you do not work with the FluidMotion Draft first.
Time Shift (Adrenaline 2.5 to 2.8)
Let’s say you have Timewarped the video speed to 50 percent.
Reducing the sound speed to 50 percent and keeping it in sync is now
very simple by using Avid’s Time Shift plug-in. First, make
sure that you have the video’s matching audio track active.
Then, in the Tools menu, select AudioSuite. When the AudioSuite window
opens, click the Plug-In Selection Menu and select the Time Shift
option. Now, click on Activate Current Plug-In (looks
like the bigger plug) to set the parameters of the effect.
The first parameter window contains the audio controls used to select the most appropriate time compression and expansion mode for the type of sound you want to process. In the Audio window, go to the Modes menu and select Varispeed. This links the time and pitch change together for a tape speed-like audio effect. Next, in the Time window, click on the Units menu and select Timecode. Then, click in the window below Speed, type in 50, and press enter. This will set the value at a 50 percent play speed and is the final necessary parameter for this example (see Figure 5).
 Figure 5: The new Time Shift AudioSuite feature. Play speed has been set to 50 percent. |
To finalize any AudioSuite Plug-in after you have set the parameters, you must render it and then select OK. This method is a great way to streamline the cohesion of video and audio, as well as to reduce your workflow. To better understand how they operate, play around with Timewarp and Time Shift while maintaining their speed relationships.
Robert Bramwell, A.C.E., is an editor whose credits include Aliens in America, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Arrested Development. He won a 1993 Emmy Award for his work on Cheers.
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