Although Avid keeps track of this media file info for you automatically, it's not easy to get back to the location of the media file without a bit of work. Generally I find I want this information when I think I have three videos of similar material - and I WANT TO KNOW where the associated video files are !

How did you capture the file - if you recall ?  - import,  AMA link ?

Don't know ?  Or really care ?  Just want to know where it the associated files aer at.

The video file and it's associated audio files will probably be

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.

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

OR

2. Freeze frame image INSIDE MC. 

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

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.

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

** 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?

AMA = Avid Media Access - the ability to display and edit media in the timeline WITHOUT importing or capturing first, giving you instant access to your media, but NO Avid associated media files inside the project at this point.

MXF and/or OMF = proprietary associated media files created by Avid when using the standard capturing or importing workflow, or when consolidating a currently AMA only sequence (or clips) permanently into the specific Avid project. At this point, Avid associated media files are created on a media drive and linked to your pointer files (master clips in bins)

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.

Free ClockDisplay AVX2 - Harold Linke  - forum link

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.....

The system requirements list what components/configurations will work, and there's a list of specific systems that are guaranteed to work.

The system requirements on the website page represent the minimum stats that are necessary for MC 5 to run successfully. The system recommendations in the sticky post help the user to match his specific needs and workflows to the best platform configuration to achieve those tasks, so it's more detailed than the base specs on the requirements website page.

Disabling the nVidia Display Driver Service
To use Media Composer, the nVidia Display Driver Service should be disabled.

To disable nVidia Display Driver Service on Windows XP:
1 Right-click My Computer, and choose Manage.
2 Double-click Services and Applications.
3 Double-click Services.
4 Right-click NVidia Display Driver or NVidia Driver Helper Service.
5 Click Properties.
6 Select Startup Type > Disable.
7 Click OK.

Dave M - personally I have a Dell XPS with a nvidia GeDirce 8700M GT Driver Version 6.14 with 512MB.




From Forumn - This laptop has a Geforce 9600M GT graphics device with 512MB. The driver version is 195.62 (WHQL) with a driver date of 12/04/2009. You will have to select Beta and Archived Drivers from the "Download Drivers" tab on the Nvidia site to locate this driver. The laptop itself has a Core 2 Duo @ 2.4Ghz with 6GB of ram running Win7 64bit.

HP Elitebook 8740w
HP Elitebook 8730w
HP Elitebook 8540w
HP Elitebook 8530w

In MC you may find the resolution of the clip may effect how MC handles effects, particularly the motion effects.  

There are a few groups, and their requirements and specifications are in the MC Help document.

There's the JFIF group, basically the classic Meridien resolutions, which are expressed in a compression ratio (e.g. 2:1) and they can be divided in the progressive types (35:1/28:1/14:1/3:1/2:1/1:1/1:1x), the interlaced types (20:1/10:1/3:1/2:1/1:1/1:1x) and the one-field half raster ones (15:1s/4:1s/2:1s). All are 8-bit except for the ones labeled "x", which are 10-bit.

Then there's three flavors of DV, which are DV25 and DV50 (both SD) and DVCPROHD (HD, basically DV100). DV25 also has its progressive incarnation.

Then there are MPG 30/40/50, which match Sony IMX-type devices.

Then there's DNxHD, which - depending on the format and framerate - has several compressions available, expressed in datarate (ergo DnxHD185 means 185 Megabits/second). There are also 10-bit flavors (labeled "x"), there are Thin Raster variants (labeled "TR") and there's of course Uncompressed HD (both 8-bit and 10-bit flavors, and since v5 there's also an RGB [4:4:4] flavor).

Which one to use is highly depending on your sources and of course the destination of your projects.

In PAL that would read "Then there's four flavors of DV, which are DV25, DVCpro25 and DV50 (all SD) and DVCPROHD (HD, basically DV100).  DV25 and DVCpro25 also have progressive incarnations."

DV25 uses 4:2:0 sampling and DVCpro 25 uses 4:1:1.  Both are 25 Mbit/s formats.  Neither are exactly "new resolutions", though.

If I edit AVCHD footage from a GH1, MC5 automatically transcodes it to DNxHD 145.  Would I be better off choosing DNxHD 220 X ?  as I want to output at the highest quality possible? My fear is that I will edit the entire feature at 145 and wish I had done it at 220 X

I would recommend that you transcode a 30 second clip from AVCHD to each DNx resolution available and see at what resolution is there no additional improvement to the picture quality. If DNx220 doesn't look any better than DNx145, you might as well stick with 145. - Larry Rubin

If that's the case, just Batch Import from your sequence and choose 220x.  It'll re-import everything used in the Sequence and up-res it.  Kenton VanNatten

To modify the format of a sequence:
1. (Option) Duplicate the sequence.
2. Select the sequence you want to modify.
3. Select Clip > Modify.
4. Select Set Format from the top list.
5. Select the format to which you want to convert from the Format menu.
6. Click OK.

AFAIK, RT Red playback only happens in green/yellow mode, or yellow/yellow mode, not in full green mode

Avid fully understands virtual drives on PC's.

Virtual drives allows you to make any folder into a virtual drive.

You must then follow the "GROUND RULES 1) & 2)" inside the virtual drive

Ground Rule 3) has now changed to allow you up to 20 (PC drive lettering limitation) different valid Avid "virtual" drives available on a single Avid Media drive.

I find virtual drives invaluable for PROJECT based media managment and PROJECT based archiving.

If you work in broadcast and have quality control inspections of your products before they hit the air, this tutorial is for you. Learn how to use the Safe Color Limiter Effect in Avid editing applications to ensure that your programs meet any color limits that might be required for broadcast and distribution.

The chroma key effect in Avid is useful, but has it's linitations that many find annoying and unacceptable when attempting green screen compositing. The spectramatte effect often yields noticably better results. Here is a tutorial on the use of this effect.

Testing GPU performance in relationship with MC.  As Dom Q. Silverio proposed if you hold O and G while MC loads,  it will ask you to disable the accelaration for the VGA.  This is the best thing I have heard side by side with Quick Transitions from Larry Rubin.  You can remember it as G (GPU) O (Off).

Go to Settings, right click to an Export Template and choose Duplicate (1).

Double click at the newly created Export Template to open it (2).

Then choose the details you want to change and click OK (3).

When you go to export you will find the new Export Template to the drop down list (4).

By this way, you can create any Export Template you need to have.