Avid Editing: A Guide for Beginning and Intermediate Users

This text is for beginning to intermediate users of Avid Xpress, Xpress DV, or Media Composer. These digital editing systems offer a tremendous number of tools that open up myriad creative possibilities for the film and videomaker, but are as a result difficult to master. The chapters guide readers through an editing project, while the accompanying DVD provides narrative footage to download for immediate, hands-on practice. The book can be read and studied at home, or while sitting in front of an Avid, following the book's step-by-step instructions. The new edition is updated to reflect the latest versions of Avid software, including an emphasis on the Xpress DV for Mac and Windows. There is also new material on Script Integration, a powerful tool now available on almost all of Avid's products, and a new chapter on how Avid can help the reader create material for current and future widescreen television formats.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Getting Started The Editor's Job Avid's Roots Film And Tape Editing -- The Old Way Working With Picture And Sound The Editing Process Avid's Digital Approach The Many Parts Of Your System Avid Editing Workflow Turning On Your Avid The Avid Interface On Your Computer Toolset Menu Project Window Bins Clips Bins Views SuperBin Source Monitor Or Pop-Up Monitor Record Monitor The Timeline Commands The Keyboard Three Button Play Other Important Commands Starting An Editing Session Making Your First Cut Adding Shots To Your Sequence. Ending An Editing Session Script For "Wanna Trade" Chapter 2 Basic Editing Editing Rules Starting Your Second Editing Session Basic Editing Skills Marking Clips Splice And Overwrite Source Monitor Menu The Timeline Selecting And Deselecting Tracks Navigating The Timeline The Timeline Fast Menu Scaling And Scrolling The Timeline Additional Timeline Controls In The Media Composer Enlarge Or Reduce Tracks Track Monitor Icons Marking Clips In The Timeline Duplicating A Sequence Lift And Extract Trim Shots Using Extract It Takes Three Marks To Make An Edit Using The Clipboard Undo/Redo List Suggested Assignment Chapter 3 The Project Window Creating A Bin More About The Project Window Creating A Bin All About Bins Bin Views Selecting Clips Working In SuperBin Mode Changing The Default View Bin Headings Sorting Frame View Storyboard Technique Starting A New Sequence Drag And Drop Editing Subclips Deleting Sequences And Clips Getting Folders Settings: Have It Your Way Kinds Of Settings Bin Settings Interface Keyboard Settings The Media Composer's Composer Settings Suggested Assignments Chapter 4 Trimming Trim Mode Getting Into Trim Mode Media Composer Trim Modes Lassoing The Transition Leaving Trim Mode: Dual-Roller Trim Trim Frame Keys Review Transition Button Frame Counters Undo In Trim Mode Trim By Dragging Single-Roller Trim Trim Practice Changing From Single-Roller To Dual-Roller Mode. Media Composer Trim Keys Adding Tracks For Trimming Adding And Removing Rollers Advanced Trim Mode Techniques Trimming While Watching Trim One Side, Then The Other Using The Keyboard Not The Mouse Trim Settings Dragging To A Mark Picture And Sound Overlaps Removing An Overlap Sync Problems In Single-Roller Trim Mode Enter Trim Mode On Selected Tracks The Tilde Key Trim Mode Review Advanced Trim While Watching Suggested Assignments Chapter 5 Menus Screening A Work In Progress Menus Avid Xpress DV Menu File Menu Edit Menu Bin Menu Items Found In MC Bin Menu And Not In Xpress Bin Menu Clip Menu Items Found In MC Clip Menu And Not In Xpress Clip Menu Output Menu - Media Composer Only Special Menu - Media Composer Only Tools Menu - Xpress And Media Composer Toolset Menu Windows Menu Script Menu Help Menu Monitor And Tracking Menus Tracking Menu Monitor Menu Mapping Menu Items Suggested Assignments Chapter 6 Recording/Digitizing Starting A New Project Getting Your Tapes Into The Computer Tape Formats - Digital And Analog The DV Format Video Capture Boards Connecting Your Equipment Image Resolution Digitizing Strategies Xpress DV Storage Issues Audio Audio Sampling Getting Organized Remote/Local Xpress DV-Connecting A Camera Or Deck For The First Time Organizing Your Bins Opening The Record/Digitize Tool Log Or Digitize Configuring The Record/Digitize Tool If The Avid Says "No Deck" What Should Happen Two Common Problems Setting Video And Audio Levels Audio Levels Video Settings The Recording Process Logging Batch Digitizing Your Logged Clips Recording/Digitizing Each Clip As You Mark It. Recording/Digitizing "On-The-Fly" Digitizing Material Without Timecode Some Useful Settings Logging Without An Avid Suggested Assignments Chapter 7 Sound The Importance Of Sound Track Monitors Monitoring Only One Track. The Hollow Speaker Icon Audio Scrub Adding Audio Tracks Scrolling Your Tracks Patching Audio Tracks Deleting Tracks Changing Audio Levels Audio Mix Tool Mixing Tool With Audio Tool Panning Audio Gain Clip Changing Volume And Panning On Multiple Clips Audio Automation Gain Placing Key Frames Manually Moving A Key Frame Deleting A Key Frame. Placing Key Frames Automatically EQ - Equalization Setting The EQ EQ Templates Saving Your EQ Effect All These Different Audio Tools-When Should You Use Them? What Level Is Correct? Waveforms Using Trim Mode To Fine-Tune The Audio Other Audio Techniques To Fix Problems Using The Clipboard To Fix Audio Add Edits Timeline Views Media Composer: Rearrange Tracks Setting Up Your Tracks Suggested Assignments Chapter 8 Advanced Editing Segment Mode Editing Extract/Splice Segment Mode Button Leaving Segment Mode: Lift/Overwrite Segment Mode Button Moving Sound To Different Tracks Lassoing To Get Into Segment Mode Delete Segments With Segment Mode Trimming In Two Directions Watch Point Match Frame Slipping And Sliding Slip Slide Media Composer Only J-K-L Trimming Replace Suggested Assignments Chapter 9 Titles Opening The Title Tool Choosing A Background Creating Your First Title Shadows Saving Titles Cutting Titles Into Your Sequence Xpress DV RealTime Effects Button Rendering Your Titles Adjusting Your Title's Length Adding Fades To Your Titles Colored Titles Blending A Title Creating Title Style Sheets Soft Shadows Glowing Titles Drawing Objects Grouping And Locking Transparency Alignment Menu Lines And Arrows Other Buttons Rolling Titles Cutting In Rolling Titles Crawling Titles Suggested Assignments Chapter 10 Effects Kinds Of Effects Effects Palette Applying An Effect Xpress DV RealTime Effects Button Applying More Effects Colored Dots Third-Party Plug-In Effects Effect Editor Opening The Effect Editor Effect Editing Tools Manipulating Key Frames Effect Quick Review Deleting Effects Adding Dissolves Saving An Effect As A Template Freeze Frames Motion Effects Slow Motion/Fast Motion Reverse Motion Strobe Rendering Rendering Single Effects Rendering Multiple Effects Waiting For Effects To Render Nesting Nesting A Title Color Correction A World Of Effects Suggested Assignments Chapter 11 Saving Your Work If It's A Computer It Will Crash Backing Up After The Crash Saving User Settings Copy User Settings To A Floppy Or Zip The Attic Retrieving A File From The Attic Backing Up Media Files Batch Recording Offline Material Backing-Up Audio Suggested Assignments Chapter 12 Keeping In Sync Sync Problems The Source Of Your Problems Sync Break Indicators Many Tracks Mean Many Sync Problems Locators Locator Information Deleting Locators Editing Tricks To Stay In Sync Trimming In Two Directions--A Review Add Edits In Black Fill Deleting Add Edits Sync Locks Locking Tracks Suggested Assignments Chapter 13 Importing And Exporting Types Of Files Importing Importing A Picture File Computers Vs. Television Aspect Ratio DV Aspect Ratio And Pixels Color Import Options File Field Order Color Levels Alpha Single Frame Import Practice Importing A Photoshop File Importing Audio From A CD Importing Color Bars Importing Other Files Types Exporting Preparing To Export Exporting Dialog Box Exporting A Graphic Image Exporting A QuickTime Movie Custom Settings Exporting Audio To A Digital Audio Work Station Exporting Other File Types Suggested Assignments Chapter 14 16:9 Wide-Screen Television Where The Numbers Come From Standard NTSC Video -- Not Big Enough The Root Of The Format Problem Your Wide-Screen Choices Anamorphic Photography Anamorphic DV Super-16 Anamorphic Film-To-Tape Transfer 16:9 Avid Editing 16:9 Titles Your Finished Project Creating A 4:3 Letterbox Version-Media Composer Only Creating A 4:3 Letterbox Version-Xpress DV Creating A 4:3 Pan & Scan Version For A Standard TV Pan & Scan Effect Go Wide Suggested Assignments Chapter 15 Script Integration Hollywood-Style Editing Using Two Monitors Naming Clips Getting The Script Getting Started Linking Clips To The Script Adding Takes Changing The Slate Adjusting Take Lines Selecting Multiple Takes Moving Slates Loading And Playing Takes Placing Script Marks Playing Marked Takes A Faster Way To Place Script Marks Playing Marked Takes Looking At Your Coverage Page And Scene Numbers Off-Screen Dialog Color Lines Other Menu Items A Select Few Chapter 16 Finsihing Paths To The Finish Line Room On The Media Drives Deleting Unreferenced Precomputes Checking For Space Blowing It All Away. Deleting Your Low Resolution Media Preparing To Redigitize Your Sequence Redigitizing Your Sequence Timecode Breaks Decompose Replacing Your Audio Tracks. Recreating Title Media Rendering Your Effects Checking Audio Levels Checking For Offline Media Outputting To Tape Connecting The Avid Cables To The Tape Deck Manual Recording Or Crash Recording To Tape Manual Record To A DV Deck Or Camera Manual Record To Analog Decks-Beta SP Or VHS Digital Cut Starting Sequence Timecode Insert Editing EDL (Edit Decision List) Finding The EDL Manager Saving The EDL To A Disk EDL And Audio Visual Effects Output To DVD DVD On Windows DVD On Mac Suggested Assignments Chapter 17 Finishing On Film Why Film? Film And The Avid The Film-To-Tape Transfer Finishing On Film Or Finishing On Tape Hire A Negative Cutter First The $54,000 Question The 2-3 Pulldown It's Really 29.97 Keycode And Timecode Problems With The Transfer Identifying The First Frame With A Punch Checking The Numbers Types Of Timecode Work Order To Your Lab A Clean Video Copy The Cutlist Telecine Log File Setting Up Your Avid Logging Keycode By Hand Phantom Master Clip Sound And The Avid Nagra 4.2 Field Recording With A Timecode DAT Slowing Down The Audio During Digitizing Syncing Rushes Dupe Detection Effects Add Edits SMPTE Leader And Beep Opening The Cut Lists Tool "Matchback Shortened The Tail Of The Clip By 1 Frame" Mix And Optical Sound Track Checking Sync Next Stop Cannes Chapter 18 Present And Future Where Do You Go From Here? Information On The Internet Getting A Job As An Avid Editor Other Avid Products Avid's Future

About the Author :
Sam Kauffmann is a professor at Boston University's College of Communication, where he teaches digital editing and film production. He is an award-winning video and filmmaker with numerous credits as a cinematographer and editor. His work has aired on network and local television stations throughout America. Included among his credits are Show Your Love, Fire: Countdown to Disaster, Killing Time, Surviving the Family, and South Africa: Building Democracy, about six South Africans who are helping to build a new nation from the rubble of apartheid.

Review :
"Avid Editing contains many little gems for Avid users." - Charles Fulton, Videomaker "Sam Kauffmann has taken the dearth of adequate texts for Avid beginners into his own hands and written one of the clearest, most focused books about Avid editing and digital video editing in general. Most texts about didital nonlinear editing attempt to cover too much ground, packing information about cameras, computers aesthetics, and the entire postproduction process into one volume. Kauffmann succeeds so well because he stays on target." - Greg Gilpatrick, The Independent