Lesson 3
Advanced Picture Editing
This lesson begins by introducing powerful techniques that enhance features that you may already use in Media Composer. The enhancements will increase your productivity and they’re often just one modifier key away. Also, there are many makes and models of cameras in the world, with as many different frame rates and frame sizes. More and more devices are gaining the ability to record HD video, including tablets, and mobile phones. As your acquisition methods evolve, you’ll be presented with myriad sizes of video and you must be able to efficiently incorporate them into your sequence. Media Composer’s Open Timeline is able to seamlessly integrate footage of various frame rates and of various frame sizes. This lesson concludes with the techniques you need for mixing media in Avid Media Composer.
Media Used: Agent MXZero
Duration: 45 minutes
GOALS
Learn techniques for selecting, renaming and organizing multiple tracks
Efficiently remove match frame edits
Find and manage black holes and flash frames
Enhance editing functions using modifier keys
Understand the information provided by phantom marks
Know when to use Sync Point Edit (SPE) and how it is different from Replace Edit
Repurpose 16:9 content in a 4:3 sequence and vice-versa
Learn how to reformat material to exclude letter- and pillarboxing
Be able to convert a sequence from one frame rate to another
Working with Multiple Tracks
Media Composer supports 24 video, 24 audio, and 24 metadata tracks, plus one data track, one filmstrip track, and multiple timecode tracks. With those numbers, you could have over 70 tracks in a sequence. Multi-channel audio tracks, such as the 7.1 surround audio track, can further support up to eight channels of audio. Given that you could have 24 of those tracks, you could have 192 discrete audio channels in your timeline. Video tracks support a collapse/nesting technique. Through nesting of video tracks, an unlimited number of tracks can be nested, and those can also be nested, and those can also be nested and so on. With that consideration, Media Composer can support an infinite number of video tracks. That should suffice for even the most complex of visual stories.
This part of the lesson is about efficiently managing multi-track sequences.
Selecting Multiple Tracks
Perhaps the slowest way to change your track selection is to use the mouse to click each track selector button. Track selection is such a frequent task in editing that learning to quickly select and deselect the tracks of interest can help speed your edit process.
Tip: The more tasks you can perform using your keyboard, the more proficient an editor you’ll be.
There are several ways to select or deselect multiple tracks in the timeline:
Shift+drag across track lights in the Track Selector panel to turn on and off multiple tracks. The setting of the first track (on or off) is applied to the other tracks.
This method is useful for turning on or off only the video or audio tracks.
Drag a lasso starting above the Track Selector panel across the track lights to reverse the selection: turn off those tracks that were on, and turn on those that were off.
This method is useful because you do not have to be as accurate with the mouse as you do in the previous method. Simply position your cursor in the gray-space above the Track Selector Panel, drag all the way down and through the existing tracks, and the selected tracks will invert.
Alt+drag (Windows) or Shift+Command+drag (OS X) a lasso from anywhere in the Track Selector panel across the track lights to do a reverse selection: turning off those tracks that were on, and turning on those that were off.
Multiple Track selector buttons on the keyboard can be toggled on or off simultaneously. It is not necessary to click them one at a time. All 24 tracks can be mapped to keys, for both audio and video, as shown in Figure 3.1.
Press Ctrl/Cmd+A to select all tracks when the Timeline window is active.
Press Shift+Ctrl/Cmd+A to deselect all tracks when the Timeline window is active.
The shortcut key to make the Timeline window active is Ctrl/Cmd+0.
Tip: The ability to deselect all tracks is particularly useful when the sequence contains tracks that are not visible in the Timeline window. Deselecting all, making a specific track selection, prevents unwanted changes in unseen tracks.
Figure 3.1 Video, audio, and data tracks can be mapped from the Command palette to the keyboard for quick toggling.
Creating Tracks Out of Order
When you create a new track, Media Composer numbers it incrementally based on the existing tracks. For example, if you have a timeline with V1 and V2, and you then create a new video track, it will be named V3. If you have a timeline in which you deleted a track, such as a timeline having V1, V3, and V4, the next video track will normally be named V2.
You can create tracks with any track number by holding the Alt/Option key while you create the new track:
If you normally create a track with Clip > New Video Track, hold Alt/Option before you create selecting Clip > New Video Track.
If you normally create a track with Ctrl/Cmd+U, add Alt/Option to the Mix:Cmd/Ctrl+Alt/Option+U
Media Composer will present the Add Custom Track dialog box as shown in Figure 3.2.
Figure 3.2 The Add Custom Track dialog box.
Note: The track number sets the position of the track in the processing pipeline. The position of the track in the processing pipeline is not determined by the order in which the tracks were created.
Lowered-numbered tracks are processed first and upper-numbered tracks are processed later. If your timeline has V1 and V24, and you later create V2, Media Composer will process the clips on V1 as the background, then add V2, then add V24.
Inserting Tracks
You can create new tracks and insert them between existing tracks. For example, you might have a sequence with tracks V1–V10 and then decide you need a new track between V1 and V2. You could select all the clips and move them up using Lift/Overwrite tool (red arrow), but an easier way is to simply insert a new track after V1.
To insert a track:
1. Create a new track using the out-of-order technique described in the previous section.
2. Select a track number that already exists, such as V2 in this example.
Media Composer will then confirm that you want to insert a new V2 track. If you click Insert, the clips on track V2 and higher are moved up to make room for the new track.
Renaming Tracks
Video tracks are named V1–V24 and audio tracks are named A1–24. This is how it has always been, but it isn’t as it must be—you can rename your tracks, which is a useful technique to keep them (and you) organized.
Some examples of why you might rename tracks include:
Your audio editor wants you to separate your audio elements to different tracks. Giving those tracks specific names will make this easier for you to remember, as shown in Figure 3.3.
Figure 3.3 Renaming audio tracks makes it easier to organize content.
You want to reserve some “upper” video tracks for utility functions. Upper video tracks are any tracks toward the upper end of the possible track range, such as V20–24. (See the previous section, “Creating Tracks Out of Order.”) Using a track for a utility feature involves placing an effect on the filler of an otherwise empty track in order to affect all the video beneath the track, as shown in Figure 3.4.
Figure 3.4 Renaming upper-level video tracks makes it clear they are performing a useful task.
You are editing a show with many visual effects and want to ensure you place the effect elements on the appropriate tracks, as shown in Figure 3.5.
Figure 3.5 Complex effect-based sequences, like science fiction TV shows, can be better organized with renamed tracks.
To rename a track, right-click the Track Enable button and choose Rename Track.
After you rename a track, Media Composer will not display the track’s original name, such as V1 or V2, unless you include that name when you rename the track. This will become important when you export the track or use some multi-track effects, such as Timecode Burn-In, because some features of Media Composer will still refer to tracks by their original names. It will be clearer for you if those original names are still referenced in the timeline.
Note: Renaming tracks has no effect on their processing order. Tracks internally remember their original position in the processing pipeline and will always be processed in that position. Renaming V10 to V1 will have no effect in the processing of the items in the timeline.
Moving Tracks
You can reposition tracks in the timeline. Repositioning tracks does not affect how the tracks are processed. Repositioning tracks is a convenience feature, enabling you to work more efficiently in a multi-track sequence.
Scenarios where it might be useful to move tracks:
You are synchronizing items on a video track to music on an audio track. It is easier to align the video edits to the audio beats by positioning the video track directly above the audio track, as opposed to having numerous video and audio tracks separating the video and audio tracks of interest.
You prefer to have the timecode track separating the video and audio tracks.
Hold Alt/Option and drag a Track Selector up or down.
Cleaning Tracks
As you edit and refine your timeline, debris may be left in your wake. Small, barely noticeable gaps may exist between adjacent clips when the Ctrl/Cmd key was not used to enable segment snapping. You might have broken up an audio voiceover using Add Edit, only to put the pieces back together and now your timeline has unnecessary edits, called match frame edits.
Media Composer contains some useful housekeeping tools for cleaning up your timeline, reducing track clutter. This section introduces you to tools for removing the match frame edits, black holes, and flash frames.
Removing Match Frame Edits
Adding artificial edit points to sequence material is a common action. These edit points between adjacent frames are called match frame edits. The Add Edit command, shown in Figure 3.6, is an easy way to add edits, which, like a razor blade, divides one segment into multiple segments, which can then be repositioned using the Smart Tool.
Figure 3.6 Add Edit slices segments for easier repositioning with the Smart Tool.
After some time, you may find that your sequence has become so cluttered with match frame edits that it can be confusing to look at. Worse, these can clutter an EDL list generated from the sequence.
There are two kinds of match frame edits: continuous and discontinuous. A continuous match frame edit that has a white “equals” symbol (=) on the edit means the clips on either side have no differences, while a red “equals” symbol means there is a difference between the two sides.
Differences that cause the equals sign to be red include:
An effect on one side that doesn’t exist on the other
The same effect is on both sides, but the parameters or keyframes are different
You cannot remove a match frame edit unless there is a white equals symbol on the edit. If there is a red equals sign, you will need to correct the difference between the two clips first, usually by removing an effect.
Note: If you are removing a customized effect in order to remove a match frame edit, consider saving it as an effect template so you can easily re-apply it after the match frame edit has been removed.
There are several easy ways to remove match frame edits.
To remove match frame edit(s) at one location in the timeline:
1. Enter trim mode at a match frame edit.
2. Press the DELETE key on the keyboard.
To remove match frame edits from a range in the sequence:
1. Set an IN and OUT MARK around the range you want to affect (or the entire sequence).
2. Select the tracks you want to affect.
3. Do one of the following:
Select CLIP > REMOVE MATCH FRAME EDITS.
Right-click in the timeline and choose REMOVE MATCH FRAME EDITS.
Finding Black Holes
To err is human. And the faster you edit, the more “human” you may find yourself. It is not uncommon that while cutting, an editor will inadvertently create “black holes” or “flash frames.”
Black holes are segments of the sequence that consist of one or more frames of filler. Use the Find Black Holes command to help you quickly find these within your sequence.
To find black holes:
1. Click the timeline to activate it.
2. Select the tracks you want to search.
3. Move the position indicator to the beginning of the sequence or before the part of the sequence you want to search.
4. Select CLIP > FIND BLACK HOLES.
The position indicator moves to the first segment that contains filler. You can then edit or delete the filler, if necessary.
To find the next segment that contains filler, select Clip > Find Black Holes again.
Finding Flash Frames
Flash frames are clips that have an extremely short duration, for example, fewer than 10 frames. They tend to appear as almost subliminal because they appear for a fraction of a second, and you may not notice them without watching your sequence in full screen or on an external client monitor.
Use the Find Flash Frames commands to help you quickly find these within your sequence.
To find flash frames:
1. Set the maximum frame length that you want to detect:
a) In the Project window, double-click the TIMELINE setting.
The Timeline Settings dialog box opens.
b) Click the EDIT tab.
c) In the FIND FLASH FRAMES SHORTER THAN option, type the maximum number of frames you want to detect. The default value (10 frames) indicates the system will detect clips with nine or fewer frames.
d) Click OK.
2. Click the timeline to activate it.
3. Select the tracks you want to search.
4. Move the position indicator to the beginning of the sequence or before the part of the sequence you want to search.
5. Select CLIP > FIND FLASH FRAMES or RIGHT-CLICK and then choose FIND FLASH FRAMES.
The position indicator moves to the first flash frame.
To find the next flash frame, select Clip > Find Flash Frames again.
EXERCISE Take a moment to complete Exercise 3, Part 1.
Enhancing Functions with Modifier Keys
Aside from the standard alphanumeric keys that every keyboard has, keyboards also have modifier keys: Shift, Control, Alt/Option and the Windows key or the Macintosh Command key.
A modifier key doesn’t do much on its own: pressing Shift by itself doesn’t normally do anything. Modifier keys are used in conjunction with other keys: Press Shift and an alpha character, and the character becomes uppercase. Modifier keys are the keys that modify, or change, the functionality of the standard keys.
This section describes how and when to use modifier keys to enhance Media Composer’s features.
Match Frame
Match Frame is a Media Composer feature that allows you to quickly locate a master clip that was used to create a subclip or motion effect.
Some uses of Match Frame include the following scenarios:
If a subclip is in the Source monitor, the Match Frame command loads the original master clip into the Source monitor.
If a motion clip is in the Source monitor, the Match Frame command loads the original master clip that was used to create the motion effect.
If the timeline is active, Match Frame will load into the Source monitor the master clip associated with the clip under the Current Time indicator (the blue line). (Remember from Lesson 1 that a sequence is a sequence of subclips, so this behavior is consistent with subclips being in the Source monitor.)
When a master clip is opened as a result of the Match Frame command, the following operations happen:
The original master clip is loaded.
Previously set IN and OUT marks are cleared.
A new IN mark is added to the master clip at the frame that corresponds to where the Current Time indicator was located in the subclip.
Modified Match Frame
You can use Match Frame with the Alt/Option key to maintain the source clip’s original IN and OUT marks. In this scenario, the original master clip is loaded and its original IN and OUT marks are retained.
The Match Frame icon is shown in Figure 3.7.
Figure 3.7 Match Frame and Reverse Match Frame icons resemble a master clip icon.
To use Match Frame with the Alt/Option key:
1. In the sequence, move to the frame that you want to match.
2. Turn on the record track that you want to match.
Match Frame matches from the highest active track in the TRACK SELECTOR panel.
3. ALT/OPTION+CLICK the MATCH FRAME button.
The source footage for the frame currently displayed in the Record monitor is loaded into the Source monitor, and the clip’s original IN and OUT marks are maintained.
Reverse Match Frame
You can also do a reverse match frame. In this case, Media Composer locates the currently displayed frame in the Source monitor and displays it in the sequence. If the frame on the active source track is not in the sequence, Media Composer beeps.
The Reverse Match Frame icon is shown in Figure 3.7 along with the normal Match Frame.
Reverse Match Frame is a fast way to determine whether you have used a specific frame of source material somewhere else in the sequence.
1. In the Source monitor, move to the frame that you want to match.
2. Do one of the following to perform a reverse match frame:
Map the REVERSE MATCH FRAME button from the OTHER tab in the COMMAND palette to a button or key. Use the button or key.
Open the COMMAND palette and select ACTIVE PALETTE. Then use the REVERSE MATCH FRAME button from the OTHER tab.
Match Frame Track
Normally the Match Frame command acts upon the top-most enabled track. In a scenario where you have many tracks and the one you want to match frame is at the bottom of the list, it can be tedious to disable all tracks first. Match Frame Track is a better way.
You can use the Match Frame Track command to quickly locate a source frame regardless of track selection. Follow these steps:
1. In the sequence, move to the frame that you want to match. You don’t need to select the track you want to use.
2. In the TRACK SELECTOR panel, RIGHT-CLICK (Windows) or SHIFT+CONTROL+CLICK (Macintosh) the track you want to match and choose MATCH FRAME TRACK.
The matched frame for that track appears in the Source monitor.
Note: This feature is particularly useful when you have a complex sequence with lots of tracks.
Find Bin
Related clips are typically stored in the same bin. Be it a bin of shots for a particular scene, or a bin of exterior shots of a building, the contents of a bin are usually related. When you’re working in the timeline and want to find shots that are similar to the current shot, you can probably find them in the same bin as the current shot. (Current shot refers to the clip under the Current Time indicator for the top-most enabled track.)
Find Bin can be helpful in that scenario. The icon for Find Bin is shown in Figure 3.8, and it’s located under both the Source and Record monitors (unless, of course, you remap the buttons and remove it).
When a clip is loaded in the Source monitor, and you want to find the bin in which it is stored, you can use the Find Bin button. This button finds and/or opens the bin and highlights the clip within it.
Figure 3.8 Rapidly locate the bin containing the content in the monitor.
When the Record monitor is active, Find Bin also works for the content of the Record monitor: sequences. With the Alt/Opt modifier key, it can be used for clips within sequences.
To find the bin for a clip in the Source monitor, or for a sequence in the Record monitor:
1. Load the clip into the Source monitor or load the sequence into the Record monitor.
2. With either the Source or Record monitor active respectively, choose FIND BIN from the Monitor’s unscrewing buttons.
The system locates and/or opens the bin, and highlights the clip or sequence within it.
Sometimes you would rather find the bin that contains the clip under the Current Time indicator in the timeline, as opposed to finding the bin that contains the sequence.
To find the bin for a specific clip in a sequence:
1. Place your current time indicator on the clip in the timeline.
2. Enable the appropriate record track.
3. Hold the ALT/OPTION key and select the FIND BIN button below the Record monitor.
The bin containing the clip comes to the front in the Bin monitor with the clip highlighted.
Lift and Extract
Lift and Extract do not normally use the Source monitor. By using the Alt/Option key, you can have the Lift and Extract commands place the material between the IN and OUT points into the Source monitor. Once the material is in the Source monitor, you can retarget the source and record track selectors and splice or overwrite the content back into the timeline.
Tip: Because the Source monitor and its Clip Name menu only hold 20 items at a time, you should subclip this material to a bin if you want to guarantee yourself access to it later.
Figure 3.9 Lift icon: Red means it leaves filler and does not alter timing.
Figure 3.10 Extract icon: Yellow alters timing by closing the gap.
Copy to Clipboard
As with the Lift and Extract commands, Copy to Clipboard can also be used with the Alt/Option key to load the contents from IN to OUT into the Source monitor. Unlike the Extract and Lift methods, Copy to Clipboard does not remove content from the timeline. Copy to Clipboard is shown in Figure 3.11.
Figure 3.11 The Copy to Clipboard icon.
The Clipboard allows you to quickly restore lifted or extracted segments when you have performed several edits since removing the material. Unlike the Undo function, the Clipboard restores the lifted or extracted material while maintaining subsequent edits.
When you Copy to Clipboard, you create a subsequence for the marked segment. You can view the subsequence as a source timeline by clicking the Toggle Source Record in Timeline button, as shown in Figure 3.12.
Figure 3.12 The Toggle Source Record in Timeline button.
Note: The Toggle Source Record in Timeline feature switches the timeline to display the contents of the Source monitor instead of the Record monitor. While this mode is enabled, the Current Time indicator in the timeline is displayed in green instead of blue, and the Toggle Source Record in Timeline button is also displayed with a green highlight.
Clip Name Menu
There is a Clip Name Menu located above the Source monitor, and also one located above the Record monitor. They are shown in Figure 3.13. Aside from displaying the name of the item loaded into the associated monitor, they are also menus with commands that affect the contents of the monitor, and they contain a quick access list of the last 20 items located into the monitor.
Figure 3.13 Clip name menu locations.
Normally the list of the previous 20 items is sorted alphabetically, with the As on top and the Zs on the bottom. To sort the list chronologically instead of alphabetically, hold the Alt/Option key and click the Clip Name menu. The clips are then displayed in the order in which they were loaded into the monitor or in which they were used, instead of alphabetically.
Mark Clip
The Mark Clip command, shown in Figure 3.14, marks the nearest edit to the left and right of the blue position indicator by searching for common edit points on all enabled tracks.
Figure 3.14 Locations of the Mark Clip command.
Adding the Alt/Option key causes Mark Clip to select the nearest edits regardless of track selection. Figure 3.15 shows how the Alt/Option modifier key affects Mark Clip’s behavior.
Figure 3.15 Top: Mark Clip without a modifier. Bottom: Mark Clip with the Alt/Option modifier.
Note: You can also press T instead of using the Mark Clip button. If you select segments in Segment mode, pressing T will add a Mark IN on the first frame of the leftmost selected segment and a Mark OUT on the last frame of the rightmost selected segment. Adding Alt/Option to the Mark Locators command achieves the same behavior, setting marks at the closest locators regardless of track selection.
Play IN to OUT
Play IN to OUT (keyboard shortcut: 6) does what it says—it plays from IN to OUT. You can also loop playback between IN and OUT marks. This can be particularly useful when playing a logo or element live to air, or when recording a short segment to a long videotape, perhaps when preparing a reel for a tradeshow display. Without the ability to loop from IN to OUT, you would need to duplicate the timeline contents over and over until your timeline reached the same length as the output format.
To continuously loop playback between IN and OUT marks:
1. Mark an IN and OUT in the sequence or on the source clip.
2. ALT/OPTION+CLICK the PLAY IN TO OUT button, or press ALT/OPTION+6.
You can change the IN or OUT mark on-the-fly while the marked material is looping. However, this will not affect the playback, which will continue looping the same range as was originally selected from IN to OUT when the looped playback began.
3. To stop, press the SPACEBAR, or click the PLAY IN TO OUT button again.
Summary of Alt/Option Modifications
Many of the buttons and menu items you just went over have a modified function when used in conjunction with the Alt/Option key. Table 3-1 presents a summary of the modifier keys.
Table 3-1 Using Commands with the Alt/Option Modifier
Tip: The Alt/Option modifier can be added to an existing button or keyboard shortcut by assigning it from Tools > Command Palette > More. If there is a technique in the previous section that you think you will use frequently with the modifier key held, it may be convenient to build the Alt/Option functionality into the button or keypress.
Three-Point Editing Power User Tricks
One of the golden rules of nonlinear editing is this: You need only three edit points to describe a splice or overwrite edit. You can have two IN marks and one OUT mark, or one IN mark and two OUT marks, but you must have three marks.
When you have four marks, such as an IN and OUT mark in the Source monitor, as well as an IN and OUT mark in the Record monitor, the OUT mark of the Source monitor is disregarded.
Note: The OUT mark of the Source monitor is the least significant mark. In the presence of four marks, it will be ignored.
When you have three marks, the monitor with a complete set of marks is used to determine the duration of the edit, and the two marks that are the same (both IN or both OUT) are used to set the alignment point, which determines if the edit is a forward edit or a reverse (back-timed) edit.
There are scenarios where you have fewer than three marks, and Media Composer is still able to perform the overwrite by using the Current Time indicator as an IN mark in the absence of a real IN mark, and using the end of the clip as an OUT mark. In this scenario, though, the result of the overwrite operation is not obvious to the editor. It is also often unclear as to whether there is sufficient media to perform the edit.
Using Phantom Marks
Phantom marks provide visual guidance when editing according to the three-point rules.
Phantom marks will answer the following questions:
Do I have sufficient media to perform the edit?
Precisely where is the footage coming from?
Exactly where is the footage going, and what footage will be overwritten in the case of an Overwrite edit?
The following examples illustrate two typical phantom mark scenarios.
Setting One Mark
In this example, you set only the mark IN on the source side. By default, Media Composer uses the location of the position indicator as the mark IN for the sequence and calculates both OUT points based on the length of the source clip, as shown in Figure 3.16.
Figure 3.16 You can see the system calculations instantly and can make the edit after setting just one mark, when appropriate.
Adding a Second Mark
If you decide that a mark OUT is required—to shorten the source clip, for example—the system recalculates and displays new phantom marks, as shown in Figure 3.17.
Figure 3.17 Phantom marks immediately reflect the calculated IN and OUTs in the absence of real IN and OUT marks.
If phantom marks are enabled and you have an IN or OUT mark added, yet no phantom marks are visible, it indicates that you do not have sufficient media to perform an edit. This is a fantastic use of phantom marks for avoiding the “insufficient media” errors prior to overwriting or splicing footage.
Note: The Go-To-In (Q) and Go-To-Out (W) commands recognize the phantom marks. If you want to see the exact last frame that will be used for an overwrite, you can go to its phantom mark and preview the final frame of the edit prior to performing the cut.
Enabling Phantom Marks
Phantom marks appear under the Source or Record monitors, which are part of the Composer window. The setting to show or hide the phantom marks is therefore part of the Composer settings, which is a user setting and saved with your user profile.
To enable phantom marks:
1. DOUBLE-CLICK COMPOSER in the SETTINGS list of the PROJECT window.
The Composer Settings dialog box opens.
2. Select the PHANTOM MARKS option in the EDIT tab.
3. Click OK.
You can also toggle phantom marks using one of the following methods:
Choose SPECIAL > SHOW PHANTOM MARKS.
RIGHT-CLICK in the COMPOSER monitor and choose SHOW PHANTOM MARKS.
CTRL/CMD+= in the COMPOSER monitor and choose EDIT > SHOW PHANTOM MARKS.
Replace Edit
Media Composer has an edit command called Replace Edit, which is similar to an Overwrite Edit with the significant exception that it does not obey the rule of three-point editing. In fact, if you specify three points and try to perform a Replace Edit, you’ll be told that you have too many marks.
Replace Edit is located in the toolbox located between the Source and Record monitors. It’s also available by choosing Tools > Command Palette > Edit. Both locations are shown in Figure 3.18.
Figure 3.18 Location of the Replace Edit command.
Replace Edits are useful when you have an alternate take of a shot already in your timeline. You want to overwrite the shot in the timeline into the space currently occupied by the existing shot.
A Replace Edit determines the IN and OUT positions in the timeline by referencing the shot under the top-most enabled track in the timeline. The IN mark it uses is the edit to the left of the current position indicator, and the OUT mark it uses is the edit to the right. You don’t specify any marks in the Source monitor: The Replace Edit synchronizes the Current Position indicators (blue lines) in the Source and Record monitors and takes as much footage before and after the indicator in the Source monitor to meet the edit boundaries of the clip in the timeline.
The footage that you use in a Replace Edit works best if it’s very similar in timing to the footage that’s already in the timeline. That way, the edits that are in the timeline are more likely to be suitable edits for the new clip.
Using Sync Point Editing (SPE)
Sync Point Editing is a specialized version of the Overwrite function. When enabled, Sync Point Editing (SPE) allows you to overwrite material in such a way that a particular point within the source material is aligned, or “synchronized,” with a particular point in the sequence, much like Replace Edit.
SPE requires two pieces of information:
The sync points. These are the source and record frames that you want to sync up, and are determined by the position of the Current Time indicators in the Source and Record monitors.
The duration of the relationship. This is determined by IN and OUT marks. Both marks can be in one monitor, or one mark can be in one monitor and the other mark in the other monitor. It is important that the duration of the material being edited into the sequence be sufficient for the size of the edit. It is helpful to use phantom marks to determine this.
Sync Point Edit (SPE) versus Replace Edit
Sync Point Editing is similar to Replace Edit in that they both use the Current Time indicator as the sync point. Replace Edit, however, uses a clip (or marked segment) in the sequence to determine the amount of footage to use from the source clip. Sync Point Editing always determines the duration based on the IN and OUT marks you set. Without IN and OUT marks, Sync Point Editing won’t work.
A basic rule of thumb: With Replace Edit you cannot mark IN and OUT points in the source clip. Therefore, SPE is preferable when you want to add a timed cut-away to the sequence.
Using Sync Point Editing
Sync Point Editing must be enabled before you can use it. There are several ways to enable Sync Point Editing. The most efficient is to map it to a key on the keyboard to enable the feature as needed. It can also be enabled by right-clicking on the Composer Monitor, and choosing Sync Point Editing from the contextual menu, or through the Composer setting.
When Sync Point Editing is enabled, the arrow on the Overwrite button is orange, and the line below the arrow now has a small orange mark on it, as shown in Figure 3.19.
Figure 3.19 An orange mark indicates you are set up for Sync Point Editing.
1. Activate the source and record tracks that you want to use for this edit.
2. Mark an IN and OUT in the Source monitor, or an IN and OUT in the Record monitor. Or mark an IN point in one monitor, and mark an OUT point in the other monitor.
3. SHOW PHANTOM MARKS to see where the material will overwrite.
4. Move the Source monitor’s blue position indicator to the sync frame in the clip. This establishes the source sync point.
5. Move the Record monitor’s position indicator to the sync frame in the sequence.
6. Select SYNC POINT EDITING from the COMPOSER SETTINGS dialog box.
7. Click OVERWRITE. The sync point edit is made.
Note: If you have more than two IN or OUT marks, the system will prompt you with a message indicating there are too many marks for the Sync Point edit.
8. Turn off SYNC POINT EDITING when you’re finished.
EXERCISE Take a moment to complete Exercise 3, Part 2.
Integrating Mixed Media
There are many makes and models of cameras in the world, with as many different frame rates and frame sizes. More and more devices are gaining the ability to record HD video, including tablets and mobile phones. As their acquisition methods evolve, editors are presented with myriad sizes of video and they must be able to efficiently incorporate them into their sequences.
Media Composer’s Open Timeline is able to seamlessly integrate footage of various frame rates and of various frame sizes.
This section is about the techniques you need for mixing media in Avid Media Composer.
Frame Rates and Sizes Are Mixable
Video can be recorded in a variety of frame rates and sizes. A common example is NTSC compared to PAL video.
NTSC, mostly the standard in North America and some other parts of the world, has a frame rate of 29.97 frames per second (fps) and has a frame size of 720×486. PAL, the standard in Europe mostly, has a frame rate of 50fps and a frame size of 720×586, meaning it has fewer frames per second but more lines of image detail.
HD has a variety of frame widths: 1920, 1440, 1280, and 720, and even more frame rates.
Media Composer can mix any of them in the same timeline, at the same time, and it’ll take care of making it just work. There’s nothing you have to do. That is, nothing you have to do, normally. But there are things you can do to improve the image quality when you mix media, and you need to know how to convert a sequence to one format or the other, as you may be expected to produce a video in both a 16:9 and a 4:3 aspect ratio.
Mixing Frame Sizes
A sequence adopts the raster and frame size of the project. If a project’s raster, as set in the Project window, is 1440×1080, so are all the sequences in the project. When you change the raster or project format, the sequences are adjusted automatically to match.
It’s easiest to see this when you mix HD and SD video in the same sequence. If the project format is HD, then the SD clips in the sequence are scaled (up-converted) to HD in order to match the project format. The opposite is true too: If you place HD clips into a sequence while the Project window is set to SD, the HD clips in the sequence will be scaled down to fit the SD frame size.
The automatic scaling is very important because without it, you would need to adjust every clip individually, otherwise a portion of the clip would be cut off or a black border would be visible, as shown in Figure 3.20.
Figure 3.20 SD clips do not fill HD frames without being scaled.
When Media Composer reformats a clip to match the project settings, the original media is never adjusted. The conversion happens as though a hidden resize effect has been applied to the segment in the timeline: It only affects the segment in the timeline.
Aside from mixing NTSC and PAL, and HD and SD, you can also mix 3-perf and 4-perf film, and 8, 16, 35, and 70mm film.
There is a Reformat column in the bins that is used to control how Media Composer reformats video when the clip’s native dimensions do not match the current project settings. Use of that column is discussed later in this lesson, in a section called “Changing the Aspect Ratio” on page 148.
Mixing Frame Rates
When you add a clip to a sequence and the clip’s frame rate is not compatible with the project format, Media Composer applies a motion adapter to the clip. A motion adapter is a kind of private, internal timewarp effect that speeds up or slows down the clip so it matches the project rate and ultimately plays back as it would if the project rate and the clip rate were the same.
The automatic addition of motion adapters is very important because without it, non-conforming clips would play back at different speeds. A 60fps clip in a 30fps timeline would either play back at twice the speed, or it would play back at half the speed for twice as long.
Clips with motion adapters appear in the timeline with their original frame rate in brackets. When un-rendered, they also have a green dot/square, as shown in Figure 3.21.
Figure 3.21 Frame rates indicate clips with motion adapters applied; the green square indicates the motion effect is unrendered.
Modifying Motion Adapters
Motion adapters are automatically added to clips when you cut them into a sequence. As with timewarps and motion effects, there are different render methods that can be used to affect how Media Composer processes a clip having a motion adapter.
Changing the Interpolation Method of a Motion Adapter
The interpolation method of a motion adapter is changed using the Motion Effect Editor. The only option you can change is the render method. All other methods are disabled.
To change the interpolation method of a motion adapter:
1. Place the CURRENT TIME INDICATOR over the clip having a motion adapter.
2. Click the MOTION EFFECT EDITOR.
3. Change the RENDER method, as shown in Figure 3.22.
You might change the render method to remove jitter or improve the quality of the effect after it has been rendered.
Figure 3.22 Changing the Render method of a motion adapter.
In the Avid Learning Series
For more information on timewarp render methods, consider purchasing Media Composer 6, Part 1—Effects Essentials or taking MC110 from an Avid Learning Partner.
Promoting Motion Adapters to Timewarp
A motion adapter is an automatically applied timewarp, preset to make the source clip work in the timeline’s play rate. You may want to use the motion adapter as a starting point, and then further customize or tweek the position of the frames or the speed of the clip. To do that, you need to promote the motion adapter to a timewarp.
The Promote button unlocks the other settings in the Timewarp Editor, making them available for modification. It is available for motion effects and motion adapters.
Reformatting Media
There are two approaches to reformatting a clip to fit the project format and raster:
Source-side reformatting: This is the automatic method that uses the setting of the Reformat column in the bin.
Record-side reformatting: This uses an effect in the Reformat category of the Effect Editor.
Source-side reformatting has been more recently added to Media Composer and is good for general purpose, day-to-day use. Record-side reformatting allows you to customize the reformat by animating pan and scan effects and setting very specific picture extraction areas.
These two methods are discussed in the following sections.
Changing the Aspect Ratio
The clip’s width to height is referred to as its aspect ratio. 16:9 is an aspect ratio that indicates there are 16 pixels across the image for every 9 pixels up/down the image, whereas a 4:3 aspect ratio indicates 4 units across and 3 up/down, as shown in Figure 3.23.
Figure 3.23 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios.
When a clip having a 4:3 aspect ratio is placed in 16:9 sequence, it doesn’t fit perfectly because of the difference in aspect ratios. There are three accepted ways to handle the scenario, each of which is easily supported by Avid Media Composer: Stretch, Crop (shown in Figure 3.24), and Letterbox/Pillarbox (shown in Figure 3.25).
Figure 3.24 A 4:3 in a 16:9 frame. Cropping allows the 4:3 image (dark lines) to fill the 16:9 frame (gray lines) but the 4:3 image is cropped.
Figure 3.25 A 4:3 in a 16:9 frame: pillarboxed content preserves the 4:3 aspect ratio.
In choosing one of these methods, you need to consider the following questions:
Is it acceptable to have letterbox or pillarbox, as shown in Figure 3.25?
Is it acceptable to lose some of the image by cropping it, as shown in Figure 3.24?
Is it acceptable to distort the image by stretching it?
These three choices correspond to the three choices of the Reformat column in a bin, which is the basis for source-side reformatting.
Source-Side Reformatting
When a clip is added to a sequence, Media Composer compares the clip’s dimensions with that of the project to determine whether they are different. If they are different, Media Composer then consults the value of the clip’s reformat attribute to determine how it should reformat the clip to compensate for the difference.
Source-Side Reformat Options
The value of the reformat column, shown in Figure 3.26, indicates how Media Composer should reformat the clip when it is added to a sequence having an aspect ratio.
Figure 3.26 Reformat column in a bin.
The default setting is Stretch for managed media, and AMA linked files, while it is set to Center, Keep Size for AMA linked volumes. Stretch causes a clip to either become taller or wider than it would naturally be, neither of which are often desirable effects, as shown in Figure 3.27.
Figure 3.27 Stretching distorts the image: This oval is not a circle because it’s stretched wide.
Other options for the Reformat column include Pillar/Letterbox (Preserve Aspect Ratio), Center Crop (Preserve Aspect Ratio), and Center Keep Size. These options result in the original aspect ratio being preserved by either introducing letterboxing or pillarboxing to pad the image to the new aspect ratio (shown in Figure 3.28), or by scaling the image to fill the frame, which results in some of the image being cropped, as shown in Figure 3.29.
Figure 3.28 Letterboxing preserves aspect ratio by padding the image with inactive pixels.
Figure 3.29 Cropping preserves aspect ratio but cuts off part of the image.
Changing the Reformat Setting
The value of the Reformat column is only considered at the instant the clip is added to the sequence. Subsequent changes to the Reformat column have no effect on clips already added to sequences. That’s beneficial because you wouldn’t want to inadvertently have clips in your final, finished sequences accidentally gaining letterboxing when you originally wanted them to be cropped...or would you?
Sometimes you might want a sequence to adopt the changes you’ve made to a clip’s Reformat setting. For example, your documentary incorporates archival footage originally shot in 4:3, and when it was added to your timeline, the default setting of Stretch was set in the Reformat column. This has resulted in the 4:3 image being stretched to fill the 16:9 frame, which has the undesirable effect of making people appear heavier. You catch the problem during a screening and change the Reformat value for each clip to Letter/Pillarbox, but the clips are already added to the sequence so they are not changed.
The new Reformat values will only affect the clips when they are added to sequences, not when they are already in sequences. That’s for the safety and security of all timelines. But you can override it. You can tell Media Composer “Run through every clip in this sequence, and double-check the clip’s Reformat setting in the original bin, refreshing it as needed” and Media Composer will do just that, but only if you explicitly request it to do so.
To refresh the reformat setting of clips in a sequence:
1. Right-click the sequence in its bin.
2. Select REFRESH > REFORMATTING.
Ta’da. The clips in that specific sequence have been refreshed to incorporate any changes that have been made in the source clips (hence source-side reformatting), but any other sequences using the same clips are still unaffected.
Tip: The items in the Refresh submenu can be used for more than just updating a sequence with source-clip format changes. You can also refresh the Field Motion column’s contents with Refresh > Motion Adapters/Timewarps. When using RED camera footage, you can revise the source settings for the RED clips and apply the changes to the sequence with Refresh > Source Settings. You can also apply stereoscopic 3D correction to source clips in a bin and refresh sequences that use those clips by using the Refresh > Stereo Correction Effects.
Record-Side Reformatting
The Reformat effect palette category, shown in Figure 3.30, contains effects that assist in compensating for differences in aspect ratios. Unlike source-side methods, the record-side methods are applied like any other effect: by dragging and dropping the effect onto the clip in the timeline, after which they can be adjusted using Media Composer’s Effect mode.
Figure 3.30 Reformat category of the Effect palette.
The record-side reformatting effects are typically used when the value of the Reformat column in a bin is left at Stretch. The letterbox and sidebar (pillarbox) effects restore the original aspect ratio of a clip by padding the frame, and provide similar results to the Letterbox/Pillarbox setting in the bin. Pan and Scan, however, solves a problem that crops up when using the Center Crop (Preserve Aspect Ratio) source-side setting.
As discussed in the previous section, “Source-Side Reformatting,” when Center Crop (Preserve Aspect Ratio) is selected, the center of the image is retained while the sides or top/bottom are cropped. The benefit of Center Crop is there are no black bars, but the downside is that part of the image is cropped, and you have no control over the cropping. There could be an object significant to the story at the top of the frame and that might be cropped. That’s the problem solved by Reformat > Pan and Scan.
Pan and Scan allows you to choose the part of the frame that is retained by using the Effect Editor, as shown in Figure 3.31. You have fine control down to the pixel level. You can have a little bit of the top and a lot of the bottom, or a lot of the left and none of the right, the choice is yours.
Figure 3.31 Effect Palette > Reformat > Pan and Scan in the Effect Editor.
1. Ensure the clip’s source setting is set to STRETCH.
If the clip’s source REFORMAT setting in the bin is not set to STRETCH, change it back and either refresh the sequence, or recut the clip into the timelime.
2. Apply the EFFECT PALETTE > REFORMAT > PAN AND SCAN to the clip.
3. Open the EFFECT EDITOR and set the SOURCE and TARGET settings. Set SOURCE to what you have: the native aspect ratio of the clip in the timeline. Set TARGET to what you want: the project’s aspect ratio.
The options for TARGET will change depending on what you select for SOURCE, so always set SOURCE first.
The Record monitor will show the effect with a white box representing the area to be extracted.
4. Drag the white box in the Record monitor to specify the area to extract.
Anything outside of the white box will be cropped. Keyframing is available, so you can introduce faux camera movements if you like.
The ability to keyframe Pan and Scan is also useful when you need to show both edges of the frame in the same shot instead of just one side, such as the shot in Figure 3.32 that would otherwise only show one of the characters or just the center of the frame.
EXERCISE Take a moment to complete Exercise 3, Part 3.
Figure 3.32 Center extraction includes the white-boxed area but excludes the character at frame right.
Review/Discussion Questions
1. Media Composer is limited because it only supports 24 tracks of video and 24 tracks of audio.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why? (See “Working with Multiple Tracks” on page 120.)
2. What are three of the six ways to select multiple tracks? (See “Selecting Multiple Tracks” on page 120.)
3. Why might you want to create A5 and A6 without creating A3 and A4 first? (See “Creating Tracks Out of Order” on page 122.)
4. You tell your co-worker that you intend to reserve the “upper tracks” for utility purposes. Your coworker doesn’t understand. How do you explain this to him or her? (See “Renaming Tracks” on page 123.)
5. Why is it important to retain the original name of the track when renaming tracks? (See “Renaming Tracks” on page 123.)
6. A coworker has a sequence with five video tracks. He has moved the tracks on the timeline such that the bottom-most track is V5, then V4, V3, V2, and V1, which puts them reverse of their natural order. Despite this, the clip on V5 continues to appear on top of the clip on V1 during playback. Why is this? (See “Moving Tracks” on page 125.)
7. When are match frame edits created? (See “Cleaning Tracks” on page 127.)
8. What is the difference between a black hole and a flash frame? (See “Cleaning Tracks” on page 127.)
9. Your broadcaster airs 1080i footage at 60fps. They reject all clips that are shorter than half a second. How can you re-configure a tool covered in this lesson to help you quickly locate any clips that would be rejected? (See “Cleaning Tracks” on page 127.)
10. You have a sequence with eight video tracks, all of which are enabled. You want to match frame the clip located on track A2. How can you efficiently do this? (See “Match Frame Track” on page 131.)
11. What two keys can you use to quickly load material from a sequence into the Source monitor and how do they function? (See “Enhancing Functions with Modifier Keys” on page 129.)
12. What is the function of reverse match frame and how do you execute the command? (See “Reverse Match Frame” on page 130.)
13. True or False. You must set at least two marks in order for the system to calculate and display the additional phantom marks. (See “Using Phantom Marks” on page 139.)
14. What is the primary difference between Sync Point Editing and Replace Edit? (See “Using Sync Point Editing (SPE)” on page 142.)
15. The Project window is currently active. You want to deselect all tracks in the timeline using only the keyboard. What two keyboard shortcuts do you use to select the timeline, then deselect all tracks? (See “Selecting Multiple Tracks” on page 120.)
16. Why is it useful to mix frame rates in a sequence? (See “Frame Rates and Sizes Are Mixable” on page 144.)
17. How does the use of the Reformat column in a bin differ from use of the Reformat effects? (See “Record-Side Reformatting” on page 151 and “Source-Side Reformatting” on page 149.)
18. When would it be more appropriate to use a record-side reformat than a source-side reformat? (See “Reformatting Media” on page 147.)
19. Why would you set a clip to Letter/Pillarbox instead of Center Crop? (See “Changing the Aspect Ratio” on page 148.)
20. What is a motion adapter? (See “Mixing Frame Rates” on page 145.)
21. How do you add motion adapters? (See “Mixing Frame Rates” on page 144.)
22. How do you customize a motion adapter’s render method? (See “Modifying Motion Adapters” on page 145.)
23. What visual clue exists on the timeline to indicate that a clip has a motion adapter and has been rendered? (See “Mixing Frame Rates” on page 145.)
24. You’ve changed the value of the Reformat column for some clips in a bin, but the changes are not reflected in the sequences. Why is that, and how do you resolve it? (See “Changing the Reformat Settings” on page 150.)