Avid® Media Composer®

Star Trek: Storytelling on the Galactic Edge

emarketing@avid.com (Avid) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Creating a sci-fi, adventure film with more than 1,000 visual effects, using a reliable, full-featured editing workflow.

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Product Designer Series on Advanced Audio Keyframes

emarketing@avid.com (Avid) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Save time when editing soundtracks. With new audio keyframe enhancements, you can now copy, paste, cut, move, and adjust audio keyframes—including groups—anywhere on the timeline. You can even delete those hidden audio keyframes that can occur as you trim a clip, with just a click.

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Many of you have spoken to us about improving our audio keyframes and how we manipulate them in the timeline. Today in version 6.5, I’m going to show you what we’ve done.

Taking a look in the timeline, if you haven’t already opened it, you’d want to open the Track Control Panel to manipulate keyframes. A lot of you are probably used to just setting a static level, you can do that with Clip Gain and that’s where you can go in with the Audio Mixer and set the level for the entire clip, then you can have a dissolve between the clips. That’s one way of leveling your audio. But if you haven’t tried it yet, you should try Volume Automation. Where you can have much more precise control over your audio.

We couldn’t really copy-and-paste keyframes very easily before. Now, we’ve introduced the ability to copy based on the entire clip, based on a region between in and out marks or individual keyframe selections themselves.

Let’s start with the whole clip version first. Once I’ve selected the clip, all I have to do is Command+C for “Copy”. To paste the keyframes to another clip—if I just said Command+V for “Paste” obviously we would paste the entire clip. That’s not what we want. So we have a special Shift+Command+V which will just paste Automation. We have a choice of Automation Gain or Automation Pan because I have both on the track. And it just pastes the audio keyframes in there.

Let’s say we want to do a region. We’ll go to track 3 for this example. Mark an in and an out, Command+C again for “Copy”. This time we’re going to go to track 2, clear our marks, Shift+Command+V, and there comes the gain keyframes into a different track.

All that was impossible before, it’s a pretty cool new feature. But it doesn’t end there. What I think is slick, is the ability to individually select keyframes. Let’s say we want to grab four keyframes. All I did was hold down Option and draw my lasso box, and now I can grab those keyframes. This is the new way to change volume. Before, you’d set and in and out point, then you could grab a keyframe and it would change all of them between the in and out points. Now, you don’t need to do that. Just simply lasso the keyframes you want and grab them and you’re changing the volume. You can see at the bottom an indication of the dB of the particular keyframe we’ve grabbed.

Also, something that’s brand new, if I want to slide that group of keyframes left and right in time, I can do that simply by holding down the Option modifier and now I can drag them back and forth in time.

Let’s look at doing this with keyboard commands. If I just want to nudge something up or down a few dB, I can do that now with my arrow keys. If I push Command+Shift+Up or Down Arrow (Mac) or Control+Shift+Up or Down Arrow (PC), you can see how I can nudge these by a dB at a time. In the display you’ll notice that when I do this you’ll get a Delta symbol that’s showing me the overall delta of +7 dB for all those, regardless of where they start. Same modifier Command+Shift+Left or Right Arrow and now I’m moving my keyframes left or right a frame at a time.

Let’s say you’ve got your keyframes down and they’re sounding pretty good, but there are still some changes to be made. Here’s a case where I’ve trimmed the audio and sure enough I have trimmed over keyframes and now one of my keyframes is now keeping me from being able to change the end-point of that automation graph. I don’t have a keyframe there, and if we take a sneak peek, sure enough there’s a hidden keyframe that’s controlling the way that the graph works. Now I can go through and un-trim all my audio to fix this, but that’s not really solving my problem.

So what you asked us to do is let you delete hidden keyframes. If you want to delete a hidden keyframe, you simply just need to park near the graph and right-click and here you can see you can delete a hidden keyframe which happens to be to my right. If I’m over on the left-hand side of the edit I can also right-click and sure enough there must be one here too, select Delete Hidden Left. So what does this do? Let’s take a look at it in this case. If I delete the hidden keyframe, watch what happens to the graph. Now I don’t have that shadow hidden keyframe lurking behind the edit that’s causing me to have a gain ramp that I don’t want.

Maybe I want to put a new keyframe in here. One of the ways we would have done that before is of course we have a New Keyframe button. That’s all still here, but we thought it would be nice also to be able to add keyframes directly to the timeline. Now, let’s hold down Command+Shift and you’ll notice I get a little cursor here that lets me add keyframes directly in the timeline wherever I’d like.

As part of the work that was done to do this by Avid Engineering, we unlocked a secret feature everyone is really excited about and that is, the ability to select discontiguous segments and now I can actually pick them up and drag them.

Thanks a lot for the feedback. I hope you enjoy using the new keyframe controls. We certainly enjoyed making them better for you.

Doug

To test-drive the new Advanced Audio Keyframe tools, as well as other new features in Media Composer 6.5, download the fully-functioning trial version of Avid Media Composer.

Test-drive Media Composer 6.5

If you’ve got a 64-bit Mac or Windows system, experience faster, more open workflows in a sleek new interface—try Media Composer free for 30 days.

Avid Media Authoring

emarketing@avid.com (Avid) — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 05:00:00 GMT

AMA makes it easy to access and edit file-based media without transcoding. Now you can use AMA to export files back to the media's original source format for archiving or final delivery through Avid Media Authoring, which will be available as our partners update/develop their AMA plug-ins. And with new AMA Volume export support, you can create AS-02, JPEG 2000, DNxHD, AVC-I, and other file-based media volumes for roundtrip workflows, sharing, or archival.

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When Avid introduced the Avid Media Access architecture, it simplified and accelerated the media ingest process by providing instant and direct access to file-based source media such as XDCAM, RED, P2, GFCAM, ARRI, and QuickTime include ProRes.

Now in Media Composer 6.5, that technology has been expanded into a toolset that is conceptually referred to as Avid Media Authoring. The cornerstone of this new toolset is the ability to export to AS-02, an emerging technology developed by Avid in conjunction with the Advanced Media Workflow Association. AS-02 is a standardized method for archiving and delivering MXF program components and multi-version, multi-lingual, and multi-delivery media environments.

Finished sequences are exported as AS-02 bundles. The assets that make up the sequence are committed to the volume as flattened OP1a MXF media that can be opened by other Media Composer systems, as well as any other post and broadcast solutions that support AS-02. As multiple versions of a sequence are finished such as for multi-language delivery, only new media assets are added to the AS-02 bundle. Using customizable XML-based templates called “Shims” helps ensure compatibility throughout the delivery chain.

In conjunction with the new AS-02 export tools is the addition of the JPEG 2000 codec. JPEG 2000 is a wavelet compression based codec that’s used in many post and broadcast workflows because of its scalability and how well it holds up over multiple generations. Both Media Composer and Symphony systems can ingest, edit, and render to the JPEG 2000 codec.

How a program is displayed to the intended viewing audience is a creative decision that should be determined in post production. The Active Format Description is an industry standard set of codes for setting a sequence’s aspect ratio and active picture characteristics. Version 6.5 of the Media Composer Family empowers editors with the ability to embed these codes in the sequence so that the proper framing including cropping or letterboxing is preserved when the program is viewed.

To test-drive the new Avid Media Authoring tools, as well as other new features in Media Composer 6.5, download the fully-functioning trial version of Avid Media Composer.

Test-drive Media Composer 6.5

If you’ve got a 64-bit Mac or Windows system, experience faster, more open workflows in a sleek new interface—try Media Composer free for 30 days.

Audio Tools for the Video Editor

emarketing@avid.com (Avid) — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 05:00:00 GMT

With Avid Media Composer 6.5, you can now monitor more complex soundtracks with support for up to 64 audio voices. Combined with robust audio tools, 7.1 surround sound and RTAS plug-in support, and unmatched integration with Pro Tools, the Media Composer family of products offers the best built-in audio tools for video editors than any other NLE.

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Test-drive Media Composer 6.5

If you’ve got a 64-bit Mac or Windows system, experience faster, more open workflows in a sleek new interface—try Media Composer free for 30 days.

ProRes Pipelines

emarketing@avid.com (Avid) — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 10:00:00 GMT

You may have heard about the ways in which Media Composer® can save you copious amounts of time in the editing suite. Now we'd like to show you Media Composer/FCP double agents—and those looking to expand your workflow—how fast and easy it is to work with ProRes using the latest Media Composer family software.

Whether you're looking to take on new ProRes projects or work on existing ones, check out our new video and discover how to access, edit, capture, and export ProRes media using Avid editing.

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Advanced Color Correction and Universal Mastering

emarketing@avid.com (Avid) — Wed, 30 May 2012 10:00:00 GMT

Maybe you've been hearing the buzz about the incredibly deep discount we're offering to Final Cut Pro, Media Composer®, and Avid Xpress® Pro/DV users to get Symphony® 6 at over 80% off. You probably know that Media Composer is the professional's choice for video editing but you might be wondering about its big brother, Symphony. Now see how Symphony is just like Media Composer with all of the same tools, features, and workflows of Media Composer, but offers much more.

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Product Designer Series on Advanced Keyframes

emarketing@avid.com (Avid) — Thu, 24 May 2012 10:00:00 GMT

Media Composer 6, Symphony 6, and NewsCutter 10 all feature some important updates and enhancements to the Keyframe Editor. Find out what changes we made—and why—and get a walkthrough of how these updates now work in this video tutorial.

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ARRI ALEXA and DNxHD File Support

emarketing@avid.com (Avid) — Thu, 10 May 2012 10:00:00 GMT

ARRI's line of ALEXA cameras has become popular among filmmakers, as the cameras can digitally capture the cinematic look of film. And now these cameras are able to record to high-quality, SMPTE-standard Avid DNxHD format, so you can edit the footage natively in Media Composer and Symphony—without transcoding or importing.

In this video, ARRI's JD Vandenberghe demonstrates what you need to make your ALEXA camera DNxHD-capable, provides an overview of the DNxHD MXF file format, and shows ways to use it with Avid video editing systems.

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Product Designer Series on Surround Sound

emarketing@avid.com (Avid) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 10:00:00 GMT

With the latest versions of Media Composer, Symphony, and NewsCutter, you can now record, edit, and mix audio in up to 7.1 surround. Learn about the new tools and get a walkthrough on how to add surround tracks to your video projects, set up monitoring, split stereo material into surround, and mix audio in this in-depth tutorial video.

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Product Designer Series on Avid Marketplace

emarketing@avid.com (Avid) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 10:00:00 GMT

Browse for footage, plug-ins, and other necessities right from within your Media Composer window—no shoes, shirt, or pants required. See how fast and convenient it is to browse stock footage, download comps, make purchases, and relink footage from Thought Equity Motion—in context with your project—in this walkthrough video of the Avid Marketplace.

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