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Avid Media Composer video tutorials. Post review Show all 7 reviews. Can a software installer size be any bigger or get more expensive? This is for professionals only and not for casual users. Review by Ben on Mar 11, Version: I have decided to try MC nle, the I First version as it is free, even though MC is not as highly regarded as it once was, eve more so now in the Davinci Resolve "era". I must say, after about 3 months of using it, I can no longer walk away from it.
My editing got so fast and the what seemed to be very difficult at first, is now a simple, quick fingers plus keyboard dynamic. What is a bit ironic for me is, I managed to get the look I wanted in a few simple color correction moves, as opposed to spending quite a bit of time in Resolve, to get that same look.
Having said all this, I will end by mentioning I am strongly considering upgrading to the full version but only when Avid brings down the price, current pricing is not justified, in my humble view.
Review by danivas on Mar 11, Version: Rating by Paulus on Nov 11, Version: It may be disabled when installing or after installation.
Free Trial version available for download and testing with usually a time limit or limited functions. No installation is required. It works on bit and bit Windows.
It works only on bit Windows. Initially released in on Macintosh II as an offline editing system, the application has since evolved to allow for both offline and online editing, including uncompressed standard definition SD , high definition HD , 2K and 4K editing and finishing.
Since the s, Media Composer has been the dominant non-linear editing system in the film and television industry, first on Macintosh and later on Windows. Avid NewsCutter, aimed at newsrooms, Avid Symphony , aimed at finishing, were all Avid products that were derived from Media Composer and share similar interfacing, as were Avid Xpress Pro discontinued in and its predecessor Avid Xpress DV, which were aimed at the lower end of the market.
According to Eric Peters, one of the company's founders, most prototypes of "the Avid" were built on Apollo workstations. Says Peters: "Some Apple people saw that demo at the show and said, 'Nice demo. Wrong platform! When we got back to our office actually a converted machine shop after the show, there was a pile of FedEx packages on our doorstep. They were from Apple, and they contained two of their prototype Mac II machines so early they didn't even have cases, just open chassis.
Also there were four large multisync monitors. Each computer was loaded with full memory probably 4 megs at the time , and a full complement of Apple software pre-Claris. That afternoon, a consultant knocked on our door saying, 'Hi.
I'm being paid by Apple to come here and port your applications from Apollo to Macintosh. The Avid engineering team, however, managed to get 1, kBytes per second, which allowed them to do offline video on the Macs.
The Avid Film Composer was introduced in August Film Composer was the first non-linear digital editing system to capture and edit natively at 24fps. Steven Cohen was the first editor to use Film Composer for a major motion picture, on Lost in Yonkers The system has been used by other top editors such as Walter Murch on The English Patient , the first digitally edited film to receive a Best Editing Oscar. For continued development, Avid received an Oscar representing the Scientific and Technical Award for the concept, design, and engineering of the Avid Film Composer system for motion picture editing.
Film Composer is no longer available, since all of its specific film editing features were implemented into the "regular" Media Composer. The Avid Media Composer user interface has seen many changes and upgrades over the years.
Early versions focused on creating somewhat of a digital representation of the film editing process. The idea of organizing clips using bins was a familiar concept, so it was easy for editors to migrate from the flatbed editing world into Avid's digital interface. Through the 's the interface saw practical upgrades which were made in collaboration between its designers who were also working editors, and professional editors working in Hollywood and at network television studios.
The interface design remained decidedly plain and two-dimensional. Interface design was focused more on clip management in the Timeline Window than on UI colors and buttons.
Crossing Y2K and into the early 's with Media Composer 10, 11, and 12, the user interface saw significant advancements in not only project organization but also skeuomorphic design.
It gave users incredible power in defining their own preferences in button shapes and shading, color coding, workspace architecture, and other intricate customizations. In May when Avid Adrenaline introduced HD editing and a resetting of the version numbering back to 1. With the release of Media Composer 5, the user interface saw a drastic change. After extensive testing, the skeuomorphic design and other visual elements were realized to be causing a slight drain on graphics card performance.
It was decided to scale-back the design and chase a flatter approach. Users who upgraded to this version were initially upset at the loss of customizability but were indeed satisfied with the noticeable reduction in interface lag. In the Select Files To Import window, navigate to the file s you want to import. The Import Settings window can be a bit confusing, so let's go over the options in the Image tab. This selection relates to how the image will be scaled during the import:.
Image sized for current format : This means that the file is the same frame size as the video format you are using. In other words:. On the other hand, if your project is DV and your graphic is x , then Media Composer will remove crop the extra six lines. By either padding or cropping, it means that your image will not be subtly distorted. Do not resize smaller images : Images smaller than your video format will not be resized and will appear in the center of the frame.
Images with an Alpha channel will have a transparent area surrounding them while those without will have black surrounding them. Resize image to fit format raster : Whether larger or smaller, the image will be scaled to fit within your video format's size. If your image is longer horizontally, then it will be scaled until it reaches the left and right edges of the frame.
If your image is longer vertically, then it will be scaled until it reaches the top and bottom edges of the frame. Any remaining areas will be filled with black. Note that if your release of Media Composer is not allowing this to work within a 16 x 9 SD project, the workaround is to switch to an HD format, import, and then switch back. This section relates to how the luminance brightness and the chrominance will be interpreted during the import:. Selecting this option tells Media Composer to adjust the image during the import so it fits properly into the broadcast levels.
Specifically, the darkest value in the graphic is mapped to the level of video black for your video format and the brightest value is mapped to the level of video white.
All other values are adjusted proportionately. If the file has fine gradients and you notice there is banding in the final imported image, try this. The extra operation it performs adds some noise dithering that may help to reduce or hide the banding.
For files created in other applications, such as Photoshop or After Effects, this will be infrequent. The following are the additional selections within the Import dialog window:.
Frame Import Duration : When you import a still image, you can tell Media Composer how long you'd like the duration of the Master Clip to be.
Media Composer will only create a frame or two which Avid calls a Slide of actual media, so you can set any duration you like without worrying that the media will take up a lot of drive space.
This simply instructs Media Composer to refer to the "slide" over and over again for the duration that you specify. Autodetect Sequentially-Numbered Files : Choose this option if you are given a folder containing many files where each represents one frame for example, of an animation. They'll be numbered in order sequentially. During import you would select only the first file in the folder not all the files. Media Composer will then automatically look for file number two, then file number three, and so on autodetection.
When the import is completed, Media Composer will have assembled all the files frames into one single Master Clip. Be sure to leave this option deselected if you are not importing sequentially-numbered files for the purpose of assembling them into a single Master Clip upon import. Field Ordering in File : This is not to be confused with Field Dominance ; these options only apply to interlaced video formats.
If your video format is progressive, these options will not be displayed. Before you can know what to select here, it's pretty helpful to know what the native field order is for different video formats:.
With that knowledge, the details on the Field Order import selections, which follow, will be more useful:. Ordered for current format : Use this for still images without fields, and for importing still images and video files with fields that match the field order of your video format. Odd Upper Field First : Choose this option if there is a mismatch between the graphic file's field order and the video format of your project.
Specifically, the file is a format with Odd field order and the project's video format has Even field order. Even Lower Field First : Choose this option if there is a mismatch between the graphic file's field order and the video format of your project. Specifically, the file is a format with Even field order and the project's video format has Odd field order.
Alpha Channel : The Alpha Channel is grayscale and is used to define the opaque and transparent areas. This takes the grayscale Alpha Channel information in the file and inverts it to conform to how Avid Media Composer likes it black is opaque. Ignore : The Alpha Channel information is discarded during import, and the file that is created will be opaque rather than a Real Time Matte Key. When you import a Photoshop file with two or more layers, Media Composer will give you an additional dialog window with the following options:.
It also assembles each Master Clip layer into a completed sequence just as in the Photoshop file. If you have applied Layer Styles, you'll want to first duplicate your Photoshop file as a backup version.
Then, within that duplicate, you will need to merge all the layer effects into the layers themselves before importing into Media Composer. Flattened Image : All the layers in the graphic file are married together into one single Master Clip.
Select Layers : This feature allows you to choose just the layers you want from the file. Each layer will become a separate Master Clip. Naming the layers in your graphic file will be very helpful if you plan to use this option. If your file also contains audio, then the Adjusting audio levels before editing , Adjusting audio pan settings before editing and Setting stereo-audio tracks recipes may be helpful.
There are a couple different methods to import audio files or files containing audio , which I'll cover here. Check out the sections that follow for some additional audio tips and settings.
Organize your files before importing. Some suggestions are in the A strategy for project organization at the desktop level recipe. Go to the Media Creation settings using any of these methods:.
From the Drive menu set a destination for the imported media. This is an optional step: adjust Import Settings as discussed in the Adjusting audio levels before editing , Adjusting audio pan settings before editing , and Setting stereo-audio tracks recipes.
Then, either right-click and select Import from the Contextual menu or go to the File menu and select Import. When using Method 2 note that in the Select Files To Import window, you have the ability to do the following:.
Click on the Open button. The Adjusting audio levels before editing , Adjusting audio pan settings before editing , and Setting stereo-audio tracks recipes. There will be times when a Master Clip's audio levels are too loud as is very often the case with imported audio or too low, and you want to adjust the level setting before playing it in the Source Window or editing it into your sequence. There are three methods available.
The steps that follow present one method, and the other two can be found in the There's more None of the methods make any changes to the actual media file s. Each method just applies a setting for the Master Clip that can be adjusted at any time, including in the sequence. Clip menu Apply Gain. The following are two additional methods to adjust audio levels before editing clips into the sequence:. This is particularly helpful when importing music and sound effects, as they generally come in very loud.
I find that adjusting to a level of is a good starting point, as it can always be adjusted later:. If you want this setting to be applied only to audio coming from a CD rather than from all the audio files, check the box that says CD Only.
Now, when you import an audio file or a video file containing audio , this level setting will automatically be applied. Open the Audio Mixer tool from the Tools menu. This is done by clicking on the Audio Mixer Mode button in the upper right-hand corner of the Audio Mixer tool.
With the Source Window active, the level adjustment you make to the Master Clip using the Audio Mixer will be applied before you edit it into your sequence. This is particularly helpful when you have a mono clip for example, a voice over or separate mics on each channel of a multitrack clip for example, an interviewer on channel one and the interview subject on channel two.
In these instances, there's no need to edit the audio onto two tracks to make it play out of both the left and right speakers channels. Instead you can set the clip to split the one signal out to both the left and right channel, so you only have to edit it onto one track. This panning operation goes by several names center pan, mid, or mono , but it all means the same thing.
One thing to be aware of is that when you center pan a clip, the audio level will be reduced by about 3 dB due to the nature of how Media Composer deals with how we perceive audio levels when panned called the Pan Law.
So, depending on your situation, you may find that after setting a clip to mid you will need to increase the level by 3 dB in order to return it to its level prior to being center panned. There are three methods available to center pan a clip depending on your needs. This recipe presents one method, and the other two can be found in the There's more None of the methods make any alterations to the actual media file s. This is just a setting that is applied to the Master Clip that can be adjusted at any time, including in the sequence.
This method is a fast and simple way to adjust one or more clips in a bin to center pan. It's also important to note that this method will affect all the tracks in a Master Clip. Go to the Clip menu and select Center Pan. The following are two additional methods to adjust audio pan before editing clips into the sequence:.
This method affects only one clip at a time:. This method only works if the source audio file is mono to begin with. Now, when you import an audio file or a video file containing mono audio , this pan setting will automatically be applied.
In Avid Media Composer, you can have Master Clips that are interpreted by the software as mono, stereo, 5. Each type can only be edited onto matching tracks in your sequence. For example, a stereo Master Clip can only be edited onto a stereo track. There are three methods available, depending on your situation and needs.
The recipe will present one method and you'll find two alternative methods in the There's more Go to the Clip menu Modify You may also right-click on the selected clips and choose Modify From the pull-down menu select Set Multichannel Audio.
From the menu below the tracks, configure how you want the audio tracks to be interpreted by Media Composer for example, as stereo. The steps that follow indicate how to set tracks to stereo using Import Settings :. In the section labeled Multichannel Audio , click on the button labeled Edit. From the menu below the tracks, configure how you want the audio tracks to be interpreted by Media Composer. Now, when you import the clips containing audio, they will automatically be configured as you set.
Following are the steps to set tracks to stereo during the capture from tape:. From the menu below Audio Track Selectors , configure how you want the audio tracks to be interpreted by Media Composer. Benjamin Hershleder Hershleder. He teaches as an adjunct professor at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, at Avid Authorized Training Partner institutions, and also provides private, customized training to individuals and facilities. Hershleder is an award-winning Producer-Director and accomplished Editor.
Benjamin is currently completing the follow-up to this film. His background in post-production also includes editing the indie-feature film "Hollywood Capri", two years as an editor for E!
About this book Avid Media Composer has become the tool of choice by editing professionals worldwide. Publication date: December Publisher Packt.
Pages ISBN Chapter 1. A strategy for project organization at the desktop level. How to do it How it works Understanding Media Creation settings. Getting ready. Select Media Creation. Drive filtering and indexing. Video resolution. Media type. Mixing frame rates. The bin will open in your Project and you can access the contents. There's more Duplicating clips.
Select the clips you want to Duplicate. Go to the Edit menu. Move the clips that you just created to the new bin. Cloning clips. Select the clips you want to Clone. Sequences will never be Cloned. Motion Adapters. Tape capture tip: Adding Markers while Capturing. Begin the Capture from tape the red light is blinking.
Adding notes in a marker during capture. Type your comment. The markers will be visible once the capture is finished and the bin is saved.
Tape capture tip: Making Subclips while Capturing. Begin capturing red light is blinking. Begin typing to name the Subclip, if you want to. Logging clips tip: Logging from the keyboard. Open or create a bin. Open the Tools menu Capture Tool. Log clips using the keyboard. Go to the Project Window. Click on the Settings tab. Go to the Tools menu. Select the Command Palette. Click on the tab labeled Play. See also. The Logging clips tip: Keeping the Capture Tool active after logging a clip recipe in this chapter Chapter 2 , Customizing Your Work Environment includes an additional discussion of keyboard mapping as well as interface and work environment customization.
Logging clips tip: Keeping the Capture Tool active after logging a clip. Note Even though the name of the setting refers to capturing, this works for logging as well that's why it's a bit of a hidden tip.
Quickly calculating total duration of clips or any items in a bin. Right-click on one of the selected Master Clips. From the menu select Get Bin Info. The Console window will open. You want to make sure that the media files go to the drive s that you want when one becomes full, rather than Media Composer simply selecting the drive that happens to have the most free space You have a large amount of media to capture but there is not one single drive that has enough space Making a Drive Group is especially helpful when you want to leave the Capture process unattended.
If you're Batch Capturing, also see the Making sure your Batch Capture continues without you recipe The Quickly calculating total duration of all logged clips or any items in a bin recipe may be helpful as you'll generally want to determine how much space is required for your media. Making sure your Batch Capture continues without you. Modifying clips before capture. The clips were logged by hand using the incorrect type of Timecode The clips were associated with the wrong tape The clips were created with the wrong tracks.
Open the Modify window by using either of the following methods: From the Clip menu, select Modify Right-click on any of the selected Master Clips and choose Modify. Modifying clips after capture: Adding tracks. Note Deselecting this option deletes the existing media before it recaptures the new media.
Modifying clips after capture: Deleting tracks. Open the Bin Column Selection window using any of the following methods: In the Clip menu, choose Columns Right-click in the bin and select Choose Columns Right-click in the Column Headings section at the top of the bin and select Choose Columns from that menu.
Capturing and editing at the same time. Place the blue Position Indicator where you'd like to begin adding the clips. You will need to access the Internet. At the time of writing, you may visit one of the following links: i. Note Avid also provides helpful, in-depth AMA user guides for different video formats on the same page as the download links. Note Before undertaking a project using the AMA feature, it is highly recommended that you perform a small-scale test of the process to familiarize yourself with the options and results.
To use active bin, in this case, you would first select an open bin inside your Project before mounting or manually linking to the volume through AMA Create a new bin: i. Volume name: The bin that's automatically created will have the name of the card or drive.
Linking to files on a camera card. Launch Avid Media Composer. Insert the card into the card reader attached to your system. A bin will be created and named based on your AMA settings. Changing the link between different resolutions of media. Select the clips in your bin. Right-click on the selected clips. Select the video quality that you want for your video. Having trouble with AMA? Getting the AMA file's image to display as desired.
Click on OK to close the window. Follow the next set of steps: Select the sequence s in the bin. Right-click on the selected sequence s. Choose Refresh Sequence. Tip Changing the project's aspect ratio display Note that not all formats support multiple aspect ratio displays. Note Consolidating copying is a process done by using the Media Composer software. Note Before consolidating all of your files, it is highly recommended that you perform a small-scale test of the process to familiarize yourself with additional options and results.
Select the clips in the bin. Click on the Consolidate button. The Copying Media Files dialog window opens. Note As the title of this recipe suggests, the next set of steps would be used before editing and will focus on only one specific result. Select the Image Interpolation pull-down menu. Select Advanced Polyphase. How to do it…. Select the Project Type and Aspect Ratio. Tip Transcoding is not magic Transcoding cannot increase the quality of the image. Open all the bins that contain the.
Open the bin containing your sequence. Select all the. Select your sequence. Consolidating an AMA sequence or subclips.
Select the sequence or the subclips. The consolidate process will begin. On Completion of the process you will have the following: Master Clips that have the extension. Your original sequence will remain linked to the original Master Clips that you edited from. Transcoding an AMA sequence. Important note from Avid Technology: New clips created through the Transcode operation are in the project format. Importing stills and video files such as QuickTime. Note If you want to animate within a still image often referred to as The Ken Burns Effect , you will most likely not want to import the image since that restricts the image size to that of your current format, which would mean having to scale the image up in order to pan and tilt across it.
Click on the Options button to access the Import Settings Set the resolution for the media you'll create during the import Set the drive where you want the media you create to be stored. Image size adjustment. File Pixel to Video Mapping. Additional selections. Note Be sure to leave this option deselected if you are not importing sequentially-numbered files for the purpose of assembling them into a single Master Clip upon import.
Layered Photoshop files. Importing audio. Click on the Options button to access the Import Settings Set the drive where you want to store the media you will be creating Set the Resolution for the video media that you may create during the import. Adjusting audio levels before editing. Import or capture clips into a bin. Select the clip s you want to adjust. The Apply Clip Gain window opens. Enter the value that you want to be applied. Using Import settings.
Select the Audio tab. In the entry box, type in the level value that you want to be applied. Using the Audio Mix tool.
Load a Master Clip into the Source Window. Adjusting audio pan settings before editing. Import or capture your audio file s into a bin. A confirmation window opens.
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