Avid Media Composer Tips

Annoying Grey Background

• Windows / Host Panels / uncheck

Trim Mode

• Unwanted zoomed image in Trim Mode
  • Command-click the image until size is restored

Script Integration

• Adding takes with resets to your script bin:
  • add the take to the script bin spanning the relevant lines of the script
    • add a script mark that starts on first action
    • add a second script mark where action ends (before the first reset action begins)
  • add the same take to the script bin in the same manner as you would add a second take
    • add a script mark that starts on second action
    • add a second script mark where second action ends (before the third reset action begins)
  • repeat until there are no more resets to add
  • select the take lines in the script and select Script > ScriptSync
    • in the dialog box select "sync between first and last mark"
      • (this will contain the ScriptSync phonetic-indexing analysis to the portions of takes between the "action" and "cut" script marks you entered above, each time you added the same take)
  • that is all -- you're done
• mouse scrolling with shift-command scrolls the script page left-right
• highlighting text in the script bin and option-dragging will make a copy of that text where you release the dragged cursor on the page
• Slate frames positions not perched atop the take lines but positioned below
  • Command-A (on Mac), wait for spinning beach ball to subside, dragging visible slate frames back to top of take lines.

Time Warp

• Time Warp can be embedded in a clip by applying Auto-Sync

Codecs

• to install the DNxHD codecs use MediaComposerLegacyComponents.

Keyboard

• holding Command key while scrolling mouse wheel in script bin scrolls page to page rather than line to line

Graphics

• Applying Matte Key effects settings to other Matte Key clips
  • "Option+drag the effect icon from the effect editor to a bin, and then option+drag that effect from the bin on to the existing matte key that you’d like to change. With matte keys, option+drag creates an effect without the key source, but copies over all parameter settings (like shadows.)"

Import

• Batch re-importing doesn't delete the old media.

Export

• to overcome the 2GB AAF file size limit, check the "AAF Edit Protocol" box in the AAF Export Settings.
• Color Scaling settings for same as source DNxHD export:
  • "Keep as Legal Range" if going into Resolve
  • "Scale from Legal Range to Full Range" if viewing only in QuickTime Player
    • blacks will appear milky in Resolve if "Scale from Legal Range" used

Download

• link to Avid Download Center

Timeline

• subsequent presses of the "enter" key after entering a +/- timecode in the Composer window will continue to advance/decrement the cursor by the entered numeric amount
• the "f" key toggles the Composer timecode entry between frames and hh:mm:ss:ff
• Top and Tail buttons
• Resume Trim: Option-U
• to unlock all tracks in a sequence, select all tracks, then go to menu Clip / Unlock Tracks
• dragging a segment with SHIFT+ALT+COMMAND to another part of the timeline will duplicate that segment
• Tracks appear in the wrong numeric order
  • Solution: drag the tracks into the right order and then save that as a new timeline setting
• Remember track selection when re-loading clip into source monitor
  • "uncheck the "auto_enable_source_tracks" under composer_settings/edit"
• "The only way NOT to select filler is if you hold OPT and click on the SELECT ALL FORWARD or SELECT ALL BEHIND commands."

Media

• option-dragging a clip from Finder/Explorer into a bin brings the media in as AMA linked.
• Console command to link media over network
  • "alldrives"
• IOT0.tio files on your media drive -- they are left over by PathDiag application and are safe to delete later
• Use Source Browser to relink AMA clips

Bug workarounds

• If command-' is moving your Timeline window to the wrong monitor, quit Avid and delete the Settings.xml file in your project and restart Avid.
• to rebuild Marker Frames if they change to wrong image just create a new video track

Audio

• To fit audio within a specific length and keep the pitch the same use the TimeShift AudioSuite plugin.
• Audio Hardware Calibration window is accessible within the Calibration window, within the Hardware tab of the Audio Project Settings.
• Use Dny3 Compressor/Limiter and EQ3 7-Band audio plugins to improve dialog intelligibility.
• in order for external USB microphone (like Blue Snowball) to appear and be able to capture audio in Avid, do a hardware disable of I/O device (like BlackMagic Intensity Pro) using the button along the top of the timeline
• To bring up the Add Track dialog box, press option-command-U. This will allow you to pick what number the track should be.
• delete all audio dissolves in sequence: "Park on a dissolve, go into effects editor, lasso all the dissolves, hit delete."

Bins

• The new Set Default Bin View option in the Bin Settings window allows you to set a default bin view when creating a new bin.
• Right click and select Source Settings to apply a LUT to a clip. Right click the sequence and select Refresh to apply colour change to clips in sequence.
• bin filter text box filters based on column selected

Effects

• To change the direction of a Horizontal Wipe, set the first keyframe to to 100 and the last keyframe to 0.

ISIS Storage

• Use Firefox for the ISIS Management Console as Chrome will never save the option to Always Allow Flash.

Crashes

• If Avid will not open and just crashes and startup:
  • Go to Users / Shared / AvidMediaComposer then delete the Avid FatalErrorReports folder