NOTE:  TIME REPMAPPING ONLY CHANGES VIDEO CLIP- NOT AUDIO
 

Rate Stretch  -  (Changes linked audio and Video tracks
Select the Rate Stretch tool , and drag either edge of a clip in a Timeline panel.

When a clip is displayed in a BIN, you really can't find out where it is

Using a multi-button mouse, CMD+SHIFT and right click the clip to select unlink.

Right click on the clip, choose "modify..." and then "set source".

If you have the clip in the source monitor, set an IN  and then + key so you can add a duration - like 4.00 - 4 seconds and 0 frames. Then set an OUT.  Now you can send it to the timeline.

If you have a ton of clips that are 10 seconds and you want them 3 seconds when you get them to the timeline, it's best to do this in a BIN.  You have to be in the Bin's SCRIPT view.

Now if you are changing 100 clips on the timeline, you first have to get them into a BIN. Of course you want to put them back in the same order that they were on the timeline.   

***
Forum:  "Though, to tell the truth if I had 100x 10 second clips in a sequence that suddenly needed to have each one be 8 secs, I'd

1. park at the head of the first clip in the Seq
2. type +800 Enter on the number pad, this will jump your Playhead forward 8 secs
3. Then hit the Tail button, (which can be mapped to your keyboard, ie, F3).  Now your clip will Extract (ripple edit)  from your Playhead to the end of the Clip.  *make sure you only have the Video track selected here).
4. Hit Enter to have it jump forward 8 secs again
5. Repeat #3 & 4 until done.

So you'd theoretically only be hitting two buttons (F3 and Enter on the number pad) and you'll make short work of this process.

***

 Tutorial - http://community.avid.com/forums/post/406138.aspx

ALSO can use MATCH FRAME (/) - go to 1st frame head of clip, then MATCH FRAME, then a W to go to 

Bob, what you decribe works as long as you use the standard keyboard layout. The actual shortcut for copy-to-clipboard-and-load-into-source-monitor is ALT-CTRL-C. ALT-C works, as long as long as the copy-to-clipboard function is mapped there. With ALT-CTRL-C you are actually using the CTRL-C Windows default copy function together with ALT, forcing the copy to load in the source monitor.

Also, step 3 is not required, since the copied elements in the source monitor will have no marks, and the cursor will be parked at the beginning of the selection.

ALT-C only works if you have the copy-to-clipboard function mapped to the C-key (it is by default).

ALT-CTRL-C works, because it is basically usin

You can also select a clip with your overwrite tool and then ctrl+c. Then in your source monitor go to clipboard contents and the clip will be loaded there to be moved around.g default Windows CTRL-C (copy) behaviour, and the ALT key forces to copy to load into the source monitor.

When I do this, I usually like to put the Sequence into a Bin by itself to keep myself from getting confused among other clips/references.

You could take those reference clips (which are actual clips, they just are called "References" because the sequence is using them).  So order them the way you like, enter Script View, make your adjustments and then Create a New Sequence and edit them in. 

You can use a superimpose effect or 3 d warp  (in the blend section) to adjust opacity.

re: Waveform - if you use CTRL + ALT + L or K, you can enlarge and reduce only the size of the waveform without changing the size of the track itself.

Select All Tracks - CTRL + A selects All tracks and A turns them off  (still experimenting with this though). A faster and better way  is click+drag through the track heading name areas - whatever you drag over flips the selection from on or off.

Want all the tracks at same height except for one, and they are currently all over the place in size ?  Select all tracks,  then hold CTRL+K  untill all tracks shrink down, then CTRL+ L to enlarge them all to one size, then select the track you want larger and CTRL+L it.  It's faster than the explanation.

And you can set up workspaces in the project window that will control the track heights
 

Or use the SCALE BAR in the lower toolbar, or the focus button in the lower toolbar (H key on keyboard) -  or reassign "focus"  to any key you like.

I liked the up and down arrow of Liquid, so I mapped that to MC5.

Open the command palette (tools menu), and choose "menu to button" mode. Choose a button or key cap, then, from the timeline toolbar fast (hamburger) menu choose "more detail" and "less detail". Don't forget to remap "step in" and "step out" from the FX tab somewhere else...those are the default functions of the up and down arrow keys in MC

If I want to delete the tail end of the clip starting at the edit line, shift + up.  If I want to delete the top (from the playline back to the start of the clip), I use shift + dn arrow

Use the Top to extract footage from the start of the clip or segment to the position indicator. This action is equivalent to the T-R-X keyboard command sequence: Mark Clip, Mark Out, Extract. (could be TOX also)

Use the Tail to extract footage from the position indicator to the end of the clip or segment. This action is equivalent to the T-E-X keyboard command sequence: Mark Clip, Mark In, Extract.  (could be TIX also)
 

Once you have the clips on the timeline,  you go through the clip and decide to cut some frames off the front end.
     ?    Add Edit   ( which creates the cut )  (I still like the shift + up arrow to add edit (cut)
     T - Mark the Clip
     X - Extract marked clip
 

Moving the edit line from One event to Next Event

Another way to do this is to add a new empty video track and map the Add Edit command to your keyboard. Select only the empty video track. Play the song on the timeline and tap the Add Edit key on the beat. When you have gone through the track you will see all the marks in the empty video track. You can now snap to them and use them for I/O points.

The joy of doing it this way is that you can make endless adjustments to the I/O points by trimming the Add Edit marks.

BTW this doesn't have to be an empty video track but can be done on a master take. The empty track just preserves those points for you when you might want to make any further adjustments.

SIMPLE MARKERS

You can map the locators buttons above the timeline if you want.

You can access those also by right clicking on the windows.

Right clicking at the rec monitor (right window) will give you the command for the timeline (1).

Right clicking at the preview monitor (left window) will give you the Locators for the preview.

If you right click at the Locators window you will get many other settings for the Locators (2).

There's a sharpness effect in BCC; it's called Unsharp Mask. It uses edge masking derived from soft (unsharp) edges in an image.  The mask is used to apply an overshoot then undershoot on those edges, creating a new, fake sharpening effect.

In the days of analog TV we use to call the analog equivalent aperture correction.

Right Click at the clips and choose batch import.
Choose only offline files from the popup dialog.
Find them and re import them.

Does anyone know if there is a way to automatically match all subclips in a sequence back to the master clips rather than doing the old match match for every clip ?

Does the following work ? Put a copy of the sequence in a bin, and also place all original master clips in that bin. Select all, and Relink, and choose to Relink the sequence to selected media.

OR

Not sure on the process of bringing in a sequence from Premiere, but the re-link process is fairly simple. This is how I do it:

1) Ctl+Shift+Right click your target media in the Avid bin. Select unlink. This will break any of the original connections.

2) Right click the same media and select relink. A menu will pop up and you will need to decide what process will work best for your relinking. Click OK and you're media should now be relinked to the new files, providing the old files are hidden away and can't be found by the Avid.

For AMA you have to select your AMA files, right click and select 'Relink AMA Clips.' Then you will have to point each file to the new one idividually.

As always, duplicate your sequences before testing with this sort of thing!

OR

Here's what I would do:

1) Duplicate your sequence and place it in it's own new bin, let's say 'Bin A'

2) Decompose the sequence in Bin A

3) Sort the decomposed clips by framerate

4) If you have any clips that are 24, then batch import those while in this project

5) Create a new project for the other framerates (ie. to import 23.98 you will need to be in a 23.98 project, likewise for 59.94)

6) Go into these projects and open Bin A by going File->Open Bin and navigating to the original project.

7) Select the clips that match the new projects framerate and batch import those. Repeat this part with the different projects and framerates.

8) Go back into your original project and open the sequence in Bin A. It may have to be modified to allow Avid to play the clips, but I don't think it will. If it does, just let Avid do it's thing.

Now your sequence should all be there, but be sure to import everything at as high a resolution as you need, otherwise you will have to go through this process again to hi rez the video.

Hope this helps!

forward slash  M key  moves 10 frames right or left

1. After selecting the segments (choose appropriate trim roller and double click)

• Click any roller in the Timeline, drag the selected material to the left or right, and release the mouse button.

• or Use the numeric keypad to enter specific frame-count or timecode values, and press Enter.

• or Use the trim keys or buttons to shift the selection by 1-frame or 10-frame (8-frame for 24p) increments.

• or Use the J-K-L keys.

2. Monitor the progress of the trim by using the monitors, the Trim counters, and the Timeline. When you reach the end of available material while slipping a shot, the trim stops. Similarly, when you reach the next transition while sliding a shot along a track, the trim stops. A red bracket at the transition indicates the limit. After completing the initial slide, you can perform another slide in the same direction.

3. When you finish, exit Slip mode or Slide mode by doing one of the following:

• Click another transition for trimming.

• or Click either the Source/Record Mode or the Effect Mode button.

• or Click the Trim Mode button on the Tool palette.

• or Press the Escape key.

Yes, that's exactly what the nesting process does, combine 2 or more effects to the same clip in any timeline. Pre-compute files are rendered effects. They could be effects that you created and applied to a clip, or they could be rendered title clips or rendered matte key clips.

And yes, the order of separately applied effects filters in a nested composition can be changed, as can the source clip vertical order, but be very careful doing this, because you could wind up with a lower 3rd text clip underneath the source image instead of on top of it, where it belongs.

COMBINING EFFECTS - NESTING:

There are essentially 3 basic methods to combine multiple effects on a single clip, known as nesting.

1) Use the up and down arrow keys on the lower left of the timeline toolbar to "step in" and "step out" of an existing effect to add a new one UNDERNEATH the existing one. This will result in the new effect being constrained by the original. For example, stepping into a PIP effect and doing color correction will result in ONLY the PIP being color corrected without affecting the rest of the image.

2) ALT dragging a new effect ON TOP of an existing one. The original effect will now be constrained by the new one, which will affect the entire frame. ALT dragging is the only way to combine effects on a motion clip. You cannot step into a motion clip or timewarp effect and place an effect underneath. As above, you can step in and out of effects combined in this manner.

3) Creating a multi-layer composition and using the "collapse" function. This will "sandwich" the multiple layers into a single layer "sub master" effect, which is very useful for clean, global transitions from a multi-layered effect to a single master clip, and vice versa. And, as above, you can still step in and out to reveal and work with the original layers.

Up to 24 layers of nesting are possible within a single clip.  

 

Larry Rubin- PLAYING IN REAL TIME WHEN IN TRIM MODE:

Another very useful option when in the trim mode is the ability to play a clip from it's trim point in real time either forwards or backwards to adjust the trim position. Go into the "trim" section of your user settings and make sure "J-K-L play" is activated.

 

A Trimming Tip.

When you go to trim mode (I do it by lasso between the two clips) (1)

you trim the one clip less and the other more (4).

If you click first on the right window (3) and you go to trimmer you trim only the right clip (2).

The same happens for the left clip if you first click on the left window (2).

If you click at the middle of the 2 windows and then on the clips you are going back trimming both again (4).

Now if you click at the right window (3) (or the left) and you hold Alt before you trim, you are trimming the clip

and you are leaving a filler before the right click (5) (or after the left one).

HDV is a low-cost prosumer format that lets you record HD video onto standard DV videocassettes. This is achieved through the use of interframe compression, where a given frame in the video stream can be composed of information from adjacent frames. Frames are grouped into a sequence called a “Group of Pictures,” or GOP. Long-GOP (also known as IPB encoding) refers to the structure of HDV media.

HDV uses MPEG-2 video encoding and MPEG-1 audio encoding. 1080i records at about 25Mbps and 720p records at about 19Mbps. Sony provides HDV cameras that record at 1080i/59.94 and 1080i/50. JVC® cameras record at 720p/29.97 and 720p/23.976.

In some 1080i formats on qualified systems, you can reduce the data rate of the video before compression by setting the video display (raster) to resize horizontally from 1920 x 1080 pixels to 1440 x 1080 pixels or to 1280 x 1080 pixels. In contrast, 720p projects use the standard HDV raster size of 1280 x 720. A special resolution, DNxHD-TR (for Thin Raster), improves the performance of 1080 HDV editing. This resolution matches the 1080i HDV raster size, reducing artifacts that would come from repeated compressions when rendering effects and graphics.

A basic workflow for an HDV project is as follows:

1. Select one of the following Avid project types depending on the format in which yourHDV camera records and the project types available for your input/output hardware:  720p/23.976 - 720p/25 - 720p/29.97 - 720p/50 - 720p/59.94

2. Click the Raster Dimension menu, and select the appropriate raster size.

3. Do one of the following: - Capture HDV material. - Import an HDV file. The media is brought in as one video track and two 48-kHz audio tracks.

4. Edit the material.

5. Select the sequence.

6. Output the sequence back to the HDV device using the Export to HDV Device dialog box. You can also export the file in other formats or use Windows Media 9 for export to a third-party HD-DVD authoring system, see “Exporting HDV as Windows Media” on page 1384.

since HDV is not native to Avid, many users have found that the workflow is much smoother and less prone to errors if immediately after ingesting the HDV material you transcode it to a DnX resolution and edit your project that way.

For SD I import AVCHD in to bin using Video resolution 25 420i MXF.

For HD I use Video resolution XDCAM35

If clip already in Bin, Transcode to 25 420i MXF

Allan

And by the way Thomas.

Your next step towards your DVD might be to export your final sequence to a (QuickTime Movie same as Source), and her you will run in to an AVID MC 5 buck preventing you from doing so.

To overcome that problem see: 

http://community.avid.com/forums/t/88962.aspx

Allan

1 open the DV from inside the HDV project and Edit the footage to your timeline which will then be horizontally stretched. Then you can apply PIP or UpRez to correct the aspect ratio of the footages.  or

2 You can Convert Your footages to HDV in a converter like ProCOder or TMPG or Squeze and import that in to your HDV Project.  or

3 You can export QT from your DV bin and link to that with AMA.  or

4. Apply "Reformat Filter"  and 4:3 sidebars. 

And to work with DNxHD 120 or 185 needs more resources.

Maintaining HDV throughout the course of a project has proved problematical for many users, with significant stability issues and crashes having been reported. Transcoding to DnX has proven to be a more reliable and stable workflow.  - Larry Rubin
 

I used HDVSplit to read in the file and then export it. This imported into MC5 without a problem

Use the latest ffmpeg or TMPGEnc Xpress 4  to convert it to dnxhd. And then "fast" import it to your avid. (tmpgenc will convert a *.m2v file to an uncompressed *.avi which can be exported via qt pro to an avid dv50 codec for 4:2:2 editing.)

Also - Another option is Cinematize.  I've used it to convert DVD video to Quicktime, and it works very well.  good luck,Carl

Also - http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html  check out super it's free. i encode DVDs to huffyuv AVI to import into avid with it

Also - Look into a piece of Software called MPEG Streamclip. I believe (not 100% certain) it can convert those files of yours into the Quicktime of your choice. It's free software, so you can't beat the price! Lots of luck

 I have tried removing the wrapper using TSMuxer and changing the format  from .M2v to .m2t or .ts, but MC still doesn't like it.   Forum Post to read  And Another

Rename the .TOV extension to m2t and dragged it into Squeeze, then exporte to a DNxHD 145.  Remember to use rgb for export, you might test what works best when importing into Media Composer,  601/709 or Rgb.

starting to keep track here

Link to Forum:  You cannot do that in MC. I think the best result would be to flip your project to HD, do the blow-up there, then switch back to SD. Otherwise, the resize happens _after_ the downconversion to SD. If you have Boris BCC installed, look for the BCC UpRez effect, a pretty good rescaler, with several sharpening/smoothing algorithms.
 

The quickest way to get to the properties of a clip on the timeline is to place the clip in the source monitor (Highlight it and CTRL+ALT + C)  OR  BETTE YET,  place the playline in the clip and MATCH FRAME  (I use the forward slash key "/"  and then choose FIND BIN - I use the Shift + forward slash "/" key.  Takes you right to the bin that that clip is located and highlights the file.

A note about clip colors. The color bright red is reserved to indicate offline status. It's a good idea to save a custom timeline view with offline color active. This will allow you to see at a glance whether or not you have offline issues in your timeline. For more complex longer timelines with a lot a short cuts, you may need to magnify the timeline to see those offline indicators.

Wherever you park your position indicator click Match Frame and it will find the exact frame at the clip you are on.

Instead of searching among hundreds or so clips to find something just use Match Frame.

Try setting your playlength to 1 or 2... that helped me on a PC system I was using a while back.  - wow, the play length button made a huge difference. No lag at all when its on.   However, in older versions, we could change the playlength by going to the console window and typing (without the quotes) "playlength2" which would cue up one minute before and one minute after the position bar's current position. "Playlength0" restores the timeline to normal function.

On clips with "grouped" audio selection in the capture tool (creating a single stereo track) features such as freeze frame, export, and traditional motion effects, where unavailable. Doing a video mixdown, or re-capturing where the work arounds. Hope this gets acknowledged as a bug and addressed in future releases.

Are you using user settings brought forward from MC4, or are they clean ones created with MC5?

Not totally believing that it would make that big of a difference, I tried it out. I took a sequence that was 130,000k and moved all of my graphic supers, titles, etc., down so they were sitting just above the picture. No extra filler layers between. (Note, I didn't remove any effects, just moved them). My sequence was now 70,000k. A huge difference. That same bin now opens faster and takes up less memory on opening.

What is the best method to adding subtitles in MC5?

You need to manually clean up (they don't auto delete because if you hit Undo it goes back to the previously rendered state. 

You use the Media Tool to clean up Pre-Computes and any other media files on your system.

You can Mark In/Out on the Sequence and choose Re-Create Title Media to get your Titles back and then use Batch Import to get the imported files back.  

Or you can sift/sort the Media Tool and avoid deleting any thing with Title and/or Matte in the name in the first place.  

I often have my render settings set to a low-res during the cutting, then I up-rez them by deleting the Pre-Computes and Batch Importing graphics, Re-Creating Title Media and Rendering (with the render settings set to my finishing rez).

Well, actually, you can't - at least not directly. But you can fool the application with this neat workaround. Park on the pre-compute in your timeline you want to match to. Mark the entire clip, and then CTRL + ALT + c will copy that pre-compute to the source monitor. You can then extend the duration of that pre-compute if necessary. One thing to note here, the "find bins" command will not function.

This technique is also very handy to copy a marked region of your timeline (any number of tracks) to the source monitor and edit it back into your sequence at a later or earlier position, something the software will not allow you to do directly (Can't edit a sequence into itself, the error will say). If you want to extract the marked region, use CTRL + ALT + x. You can also save that marked region as a sub-sequence by dragging it to a bin.

Many thanks to the late Joseph "sep" Mehr, who first posted this technique back in 2005. We miss you very much, Sep.

Just like by hitting U in Liquid, you could select everything after the scrubbing bar in timeline,

by assigning those 2 buttons (1) at your keyboard as I did to mine, you can not only

select all (depending on which tracks you have enabled in timeline) after the bar (a) but also before (b).

Apply locators to the exact frames you need to export as any image format.

Then follow the image.

(Can't be simpler than that. I thought in Liquid was very easy but this is a piece of cake.)

Select 2 clips. Any 2 clips (or even more)
(1). Click at the Fast Menu (Hamburger Menu) of the bin and choose Group Clips
(2). Choose how you will sync the clips. If no timecode then choose Inpoints and click OK
(3). At your bin MC will create a Multicam clip
(4).Drag this to timeline
(5).Click the Quad Split button (I have mapped it above timeline)
(6).(You can access this from the Fast Menu of the preview monitor as well.) After this the preview monitor will change to multicam view so you could choose between the clips in RT
(7)At the keyboard with the F9 F10 F11 F12 you can choose which clip will be on at multicam
(8).Just play the timeline and at Real Time choose the clip (by F9 F10 in this case) that will be on. You can see which clip is on by the green line below it
(7). When you hit space again and stop playing the timeline, you will see the multicam cuts
(9).The different colors are because the one clip is SD and the other HD (9).

Snapshot - Capturing a Frame as a picture  & Photos (below)

1.Park on top of the IMAGE you want to export. FILE > EXPORT > near EXPORT SETTINGS select OPTIONS > where it says EXPORT AS select GRAPHIC > where it says GRAPHIC FORMAT select the format you want to export as (you also have sub-options such as width x height.. color levels etc.. etc.. click SAVE > name your file and click SAVE.

If you are just using the photo for the timeline as a freeze frame, the timeline format size should be adequate.  If you want to pan and scan, then a bigger size would be appropriate.

To use a still picture in MC you have to import it.

OR

2. Freeze frame image INSIDE MC (clip loaded in the SOURCE WINDWO). 

FILE > IMPORT > OPTIONS > where it says FRAME IMPORT DURATION input how long you want the still image to be.

go to the clip menu, pull down to "freeze frame", pull out to the length of time you want, and choose an appropriate field option

It can be one click if you map it to your keyboard (Menu to Button mapping)

SHIFT+PageUp gives me a 10 sec Freeze Frame every time. - Larry Rubin

When you go to the clip menu and pull down to "freeze frame" a side window opens with time durations and at the bottom "field options". Pull down to that and another side window opens with the field choices that the freeze frame can be constructed with.

make sure you match frame first the frame you want so that the clip is in your source monitor. Keyborad shortcut I use is "forward slash" - "/".   You cannot make freeze frame directly from your timeline.  if you attempt to freeze frame from timeline it will be greyed out, but if you freeze frame from source monitor it will be there

Also, you cannot make a freeze frame from a grouped stereo audio clip. This is now a known issue at Avid QA. It is in their bug list.

In MC, even still images are converted to MXF format video files when you import them. Thus, you need to mark an in and out with enough leeway for the dissolves. Also, it is the reason that if you want to do pan and zoom on images, that must be done by bringing the image into the pan and zoom editor first instead of just unscaling it on the timeline. Very different from Liquid.

Community Discussion - http://community.avid.com/forums/p/81075/454122.aspx#454122
 

When I do this, I usually like to put the Sequence into a Bin by itself to keep myself from getting confused among other clips/references.

You could take those reference clips (which are actual clips, they just are called "References" because the sequence is using them).  So order them the way you like, enter Script View, make your adjustments and then Create a New Sequence and edit them in. 

Though, to tell the truth if I had 100x 10 second clips in a sequence that suddenly needed to have each one be 8 secs, I'd

1. park at the head of the first clip in the Seq
2. type +800 Enter on the number pad, this will jump your Playhead forward 8 secs
3. Then hit the Tail button, (which can be mapped to your keyboard, ie, F3).  Now your clip will Extract from your Playhead to the end of the Clip.  *make sure you only have the Video track selected here).
4. Hit Enter to have it jump forward 8 secs again
5. Repeat #3 & 4 until done.

So you'd theoretically only be hitting two buttons (F3 and Enter on the number pad) and you'll make short work of this process.

can I "import" existing mxf files? Not sure what to do

filename.avb = Avid Bin

filename.avs = Project Settings, and can be trashed.

Create a folder that matches "filename", and place it in your Avid Projects folder, where all your other projects are.  Copy the .avp & .avb files into it.

The numbered sub-folders inside the provided Avid MediaFiles\MXF folder can be copied to your media drive.  If the numbers already exist in your MXF folder, simply rename these new folders to any other number.  If there are media database files (msm's) inside the numbered folders, trash those.

Launch Avid.  It should automatically scan & index the folders with the new media.  Youl should be able to see the new project.  Open it.  Then, open the Bin.  The media should be linked to the Master Clips.  If not, you can use Media Tool to see the clips, and then drag the Master Clips into another Bin.

New clips created through the Transcode operation are in the project format.
 

A video mixdown is a new master clip and associated media file of the active video tracks of your sequence, with the video monitor icon placed on the highest active track. Effectively, it transforms a multi-layer timeline into a single clip, and generally makes for exports with the fewest problems - problems that can result when attempting to export a complex, multi-layer, effects intensive timeline.

It is similar to collapsing tracks into a single submaster layer, EXCEPT that a video mixdown track can never be uncollapsed back into it's original timeline layers. It is a direct replacement, with no references back to the original source clips the sequence was built from. Therefore, IMO, you should always keep a copy of your original "layers intact" sequence, should you need to make changes at a future date.

A mixdown creates a new .MXF file, which includes all the elements that you've selected to be mixed down.  For example, you can mark an in and out around a portion of your sequence and only mix down the marked portion.  If you have a sequence with 5 tracks, you can choose to only mix down tracks 1 & 2.  You get the idea.

It's a good idea to make a duplicate of your sequence before mixing down so you'll have it if you need to go back to the original sequence and make changes.

Many times video mixdowns are placed on the upper track, thus allowing modifications to be made to the original, highlight those tracks and create another mixdown that can replace that segment's area on the top track.

There seems to be + and -'s of using a mixdown.     Some Hate It and Some Love it. (forum)

1. Mixdowns take up disk space.  Do one, make modifications, do it again, over and over - you may have many .Mxf files in your AvidMediaFiles folder - maybe even spread across several drives depending on your setup.  So you want to keep track of the mixdown names so you can delete the excess ones.

2. If you have a complicated timeline with effects, etc., creating a mixdown can relieve a lot of required processing that can make things go slow.

3. Export errors  might be eliminated by substituting a mixdown.
 

** Sequences containing AMA and HDV clips will not export as a QTref - even IF you do a Mixdown and only enable the Mixdown tracks.  So, dupe the seq, and delete all the tracks except the Mixdowns.

No matter at what project format you are working on, if you change the type of the project or the raster type (2,3,4,), you can have mixdowns with different resolutions.

If you change the Raster Type to Thin Raster (HD) 1440x1080 (2).

If you change the Raster Type to Full Raster (HD) 1920x1080 (3).

If you change the Project Format (SD>HD or HD>SD) (4).

Experiment will help you get the idea and the difference in quality.

I always create a bin which I call Mixdowns, so when it asks me the bin to save the mixdown, I select that bin.

Also at the resolution selection you can see the Disk Space required in mb for the selected resolution.

P.S. Those resolutions and project formats are on MC 4.0.5.

My main reasons are:

• when I do a QTref export, my exported QTref file only has to reference 3 files (the video mixdown media file and the two audio mixdown media files)  That alone can prevent a lot of headaches.
   
• Another reason is that I found that when I  exported a QTref without a V/A Mixdown sometimes my encoder of choice wouldn't handle the Filler or any Titles properly. 
   
• If I need to send a review cut to a client (or even get ready to start Onlining a cut), a Video Mixdown of my cut placed on a new blank track will give you a nice reference to make sure you're stuff is lined up.  If I embed a TC burn in my client review file the client then makes their notes based on that TC.  If I take their notes and cut out a bite or shot and shorten the piece, then the rest of their notes make no sense as the TC numbers would be off.  But, if you put the VM on the upper track then it'll have the TC burn embedded into the video and it won't ever change if you Extract or shift something around. 

You will rarely find anything that can "improve" the quality of video.  You can certainly apply effects that will alter the footage and possibly make some footage a little more palettable, but by and large all anyone can ever do is "maintain" the quality as much as possible.
 

From HELP  Video mixdown is similar to the Collapse feature, but the end result is different:

 With the Collapse feature, you collapse the tracks into a Submaster effect. After you collapse the tracks, you are still able to step in to the Submaster effect and work on the individual elements.

 

With video mixdown, your end result is a new master clip made up of all the tracks you built on different layers. Those tracks become one clip. You cannot separate the tracks to work on them or step in to the sequence.

For more information on the Collapse feature, see Collapsing Layers into a Submaster Effect

I have converted almost all of the 23.98 footage to 29.97 (59.94) by cutting it to an HDCam tape and re-capturing it at 29.97 (59.94) using the 3:2 pulldown on the deck. Most of it worked great.  Problem is I have a few clips that just wont convert properly.

When I do a video mixdown of the problem 23.98 clips, in my 59.94 sequence, it says my new clip is in fact 29.97.  So my question is, does a video mixdown actually give the 23.98 clip the proper 3:2 cadence? I mean, it looks fine, but it just seems too good to be true that  mixdown can do that.   The mixdown would be a simple solution to fix these 5 clips, if it actually does do the conversion properly. I just can't find anyone who knows this answer for sure. 

Nromally with v4, you would grab these clips in a 23.98 project, then open that bin in your 59.94 project.  MC's Motion Adapters would take over and convert those clips to 59.94.

I always transcode to DNxHD 120 (some others as Dom Q Silverio proposes DNxHD 220) after I link to my Canon 550D's files.
 

They are essentially references back to the original movie clips - so in essence it is a list of references to your timeline clips - the main issue here is that they are always the same quality as the clips in your timeline so there is no encoding or loss of quality in your export - you need to be careful when using them as you cannot copy them to another machine that does not have access to the original files.

Also if you have made audio adjustments always ensure that you also export the audio file otherwise you end up using the original audio from the clips and all your audio effects are lost.   adamsonn
 

a) QT Ref is a reference of the timeline using the codec you want to use.

QT Ref with avid.dv codec is a reference of the timeline using Avid DV codec.

In MC you can use almost any codec the program understands as you wish to export by altering the export settings to your likeness.

b) This depends on the project format you are working.

If you are on an SD project you can use the MC's SD codecs to make a mixdown (video/audio).

When you are on an HD project MC lists the codecs that you can use for the mixdown.

For example if you are on a 1920x1080 project and by XDCAM EX format project you can't make a QT ref because Long GOP isn't supposed to be able to do that. Then you can use a DNxHD codec to make the mixdowns so that you can be able to do the QT ref.  - sverkalo

If i transcode them to dnxhd prior of editing (as with mc4, for example) i can send to sorenson squeeze via qt reference.

if I use ama native files, it's not possible to export a qt reference with linked files. So, I must transcode the sequence to dnxhd then send a qt ref to squeeze.

Reading pdf files on ama, there is one thing that's not clear (for me): is there a way to import without transcoding?

Or, how can I have a native export?

the only way to the end of the workflow is to transcode to dnxhd? 

Another thing is not clear: is it possible to use multirez without interplay? And if so, to use interplay I need an unity or similar server?

It is a great feature but you have to understand how to handle it and how Avids Media Management works. The workflow is to do a rough cut using AMA link and after that do a consolidate to your editing codec, preferabilly an Avid Dnxhd codec. In this way you will get a very fast first look of all your media and you don´t need to waste unneccesary time and discspace for encoded media that you don´t need. 

The only time you have associated media files (MXF or OMF) to delete is when you either use the standard capturing and importing workflow, or if you have consolidated a sequence that had previously been AMA only. Think of AMA as an elaborate remote control of your media files while they're still outside the project so that you can see them and edit with them inside the project. At that point, however, they are NOT Avid media files in your project, therefore no media files to delete. You are accessing them remotely.

To VIEW an MXF file
   1.   Make sure the mxf file is located in a \AvidMediaFiles folder on one of the drives.  You can move .mxf files into the avid media folder.

   2.  Open a project, open Media Tool, find the file.  One method I use is to look for duration - , and drag it to a bin.  You can not view that mxf file in the source monitor.

More: 

There is a more convenient way how to make a bin full of clips from new media files:

- Create new Avid MediaFiles folder. For example \\Avid MediaFiles\MXF\999 (even when Avid is running)
- put new media files into this folder
- make Avid to catalogise it. (Just switch to Avid if its running)
- in your new folder "999" locate the file msmMMOB.mdb
- drag this file into new bin in Avid
- all files from that folder will appear as master clips in the bin.

( To clarify, the media files need to be in a numbered folder, like this ... Avid MediaFiles\MXF\1  The folder can be any number.  You might want to create a new numbered folder to simplify things.  Once Avid launches, it will detect the new media, scan & index them, and create 2 new media database files.  An alternative to using Media Tool, especially if the new media is isolated in a separate folder, is to simply drag the newly created MMOB media database file into a bin.  The Master Clips will be automatically generated.  )

So, to understand this well, I have Avid opened with a new bin open and I drag the new MMOB file FROM WINDOWS EXPLORER into the bin?

Additionally -  Use the media tool.  Select current project and then high light Masterclips.  All the maasterclips for the current project will be displayed.  Next, highlight your sequence and choose select media relatives/  Now all masterclips used in the sequence will be highlighted.  Lastly, go back to the list of all masterclips shown by the media tool and choose reverse selection.  The masterclips not used in your sequence will now be highlighted and delete the unused masterclips

filename.avp = Avid Project File

filename.avb = Avid Bin

filename.avs = Project Settings, and can be trashed.

Create a folder that matches "filename", and place it in your Avid Projects folder, where all your other projects are.  Copy the .avp & .avb files into it.

The numbered sub-folders inside the provided Avid MediaFiles\MXF folder can be copied to your media drive.  If the numbers already exist in your MXF folder, simply rename these new folders to any other number.  If there are media database files (msm's) inside the numbered folders, trash those.

Launch Avid.  It should automatically scan & index the folders with the new media.  Youl should be able to see the new project.  Open it.  Then, open the Bin.  The media should be linked to the Master Clips.  If not, you can use Media Tool to see the clips, and then drag the Master Clips into another Bin.

To get some ideas about how to setup Squeeze, you might want to follow the link from this post, the tutorial is for HD but the settings could as well be adjusted for SD and will also make it possible for you to get a grip about codec and aspect settings  View this post at http://community.avid.com/forums/p/89880/510476.aspx#510476

When converting .vob to .mov, I have found that freeware MPEG_Streamclip www.squared5.com produces significantly superior results in much faster time as compared to the same process in Sorenson Squeeze. To put it briefly, with my Streamclip settings, coverting a 1GB .vob yields a 2GB .mov of superb quality. I convert to QuickTime (.mov) selecting the Apple Photo codec with settings at default including the 50% Quality then select 720x480 unscaled with bottom field dominance. Works GREAT for me!

DV Capture Problems - The port "OHCI" is busy and cannot be used - which means that the firewire connection to the DECK (the camera if connected by firewire, or the tape deck) has 2 or more channels open when only 1 channel can be supported), so you have to modify the DECK settings.....