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Posted at 5:25 PM |

Here at GeniusDV, we recieve a large number of calls on a daily basis from editors seeking support on a wide variety of issues that can arise in a day in the life of a working editor , but occasionally, we receive calls that would seem better suited for someone who works in the paranormal!

one of our past Avid students, who produces two shows a week for his local church service, called us and stated that he was hearing strange voices as he was putting together his projects. Naturally, we all looked at one another and wondered if this guy had a late night and was hearing the voice of Jack Daniels, but as we dug deeper and deeper into his situation, we discovered something quite fascinating!

This producer was using a cheap, unshielded firewire cable and everytime someone was on a cell phone, or when the church used their wireless microphone system while he was capturing his material into Avid Xpress, those signals became mixed with his audio signal. He had the better part of an entire conversation and a sermon intertwined in his audio tracks. He went out and bought a heavy duty firewire cable and that solved his problem. We didn't need Scully and Moulder after all!

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Posted at 6:21 PM |

Yet again, another great story has popped up using Avid software and showcasing Avids ability to manage media and play all format types. When snowboard enthusiast Anthony Cupaiuolo first launched First Tracks Productions in 2001, it was purely an experiment to see if he could turn his high-flying hobby into a well-grounded business venture. The experiment worked. Since it first burst out of the gate, First Tracks Productions has hit its mark in the world of snowboarding and action-sports videos - despite its limited resources and small staff of fellow snowboarders-turned-entrepreneurs. First Tracks Productions shoots much of the footage for its snowboard videos with its Panasonic HVX200 cameras at 100 Mbps DVCPRO HD quality in 720p/24PN mode.

Read the full story and sign up for one of our next up and coming Avid classes and get started on your dream!

Posted at 6:38 PM |

When you are in the Color Corrction toolset within Avid Xpress Pro and have finished making adjustments to a clip, you can save the color correction parameter to use later on a similar clip.

1 After you have finished color correcting the clip, control click for Mac or Option click for PC the C1 bucket to save the adjustment parameters.

Keep in mind that when you end your Avid Session these saved parameters will not be retained. Create a color correction bin and drag the icon from the C1 bucket to the bin to save it.

Take a look at this segment editing technique in Avid Xpress Pro!

Posted at 10:15 AM |

Avid Technology announced yesterday that it will not have an exhibition booth at the upcoming NAB (National Association of Brodcasters) show
The company plans a major shift in terms of how it deals with customers. A series of new innovative products will be announced starting in Februrary. Avid Technology does plan on attending NAB to meet with customers, It is unclear where customers will be able to meet with company representatives during the exihibition..

http://www.avid.com/company/releases/2007/071113_customer_avid.html

Posted at 6:24 AM |

Let's say that you have created the popular white flash effect for your Avid project via the Fade to Color Effect located in the Effects Pallete. For consistency, you may want to save the effect that you have already created for repeated use throughout the program. That way you wouldn't have to keep recreating the effect everytime you wanted to use it, you could just tweak the one you have already made or use it as is.

Storing an Effect

1 After you have tweaked the Fade to Color Effect in the Effect Editor and applied it to an edit point in your sequence, Notice the icon representing that effect at the top of the Effect Editor Pallete.

2 Activate the Bin window by clicking in it and Press Control N for a PC or Command N for a Mac to create a new bin and name it Effects.

3 Simply drag the effect icon from the top of the Effect Editor into the new bin. Now at any point in your sequence when you need this pre-tweaked effect, all you have to do is drag this icon from the Effects bin you have made and place it into your sequence.

Posted at 10:12 AM |

To create a PIP effect in Avid Xpress Pro, you must first have two video tracks with the desired footage placed over top of one another. You could perform the PIP effect with just one video track if you desired, but remember that the video in the track would then be placed on a black background. For this example, make sure you place the footage that you want to appear in the PIP effect on top of the footage that you wish to serve as the backdrop.

1 Open the Effects bin and under the Blend options select Picture-in-Picture.

2 Drag the PIP icon over the video clip in track 2. You will then see the effect in the Composer Window.

3 Click the Effects Mode icon and you will see a bounding box surround your PIP effect. Click in the middle of the bounding box to move it and use the handles to change its size. In the Effect Editor Palette you will be able to further manipulate the PIP effect.

Posted at 9:20 AM |

If you are experiencing errors or poor 3D DVE performance within your Avid Xpress or Media Composer software, it may be because you are running the wrong drivers for your graphics card.

Posted at 10:36 AM |

Posted at 8:58 PM |

When editing with Avid or any other editing application drive speed is very important. The manufacture of your drive normally lists the speed of the drive but this may not be accurate or through time you may have a problem in your system either with the drive or maybe a cable. There is a great utility called HD_Speed produced by Steel Bytes. This tests the speed of all of your drives including your CD or DVD rom. This is a freeware and is a fast download. Measures both sustained and burst data transfer rates of your hard disks, cd/dvd-roms and floppy. Real-time graphical display. Download it today and make sure you are running at full capacity!

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Posted at 11:36 PM |

Crazy Sexy Cancer is a documentary you need to take a close look at. This is a great story I wanted to make sure everyone had a chance to check out. Not only does this story talk about the power of had and its ability to handle all types of media shot under all conditions but truly the power of people.
When Avid editor Brian Fassett was presented with a batch of 25 MiniDV tapes and a request to create a promotional trailer out of the footage, little did he know the project would turn into a life-changing experience.
In order to bring the story to life, Fassett set up a home-based workflow that initially consisted of an Avid Xpress system running on a Macintosh G4 desktop. Because Fassett was digitizing at DV25 resolution, he was quickly maxing out his storage capacity, so he kept adding 180- and 200-gigabyte FireWire drives to his rig. As cumbersome as it was, the system performed well and got Fassett and Carr through the critical, early phase of the project.

Check out the complete story and do not forget to sign up for our next Avid training class and get on your way to producing the next great film!

Posted at 8:47 AM |

Avid has a great new plug in that speeds up the process of getting your sequences straight into YouTube. You will have the ability to easily create a Send To template that will export a QuickTime movie and launch the YouTube upload web-page simultaneously. This is very useful and a great way to get your sequences from your Avid timeline to YouTube. Check out the full details and the step-by-step instructions and do not forget to download the .bat file at the bottom of the tutorial. Also our latest Avid training class is filling up quickly so do not sign up soon and get a seat in one of the most personalized Avid training classes in the country!

Posted at 6:44 PM |

If you are wondering the differences between Avid Media Composer and Xpress Pro then you need to look no further. The main differences are the available formats, media delivery features and resolutions you have the option of working with in Media Composer versus Xpress Pro. There are 25 more resolutions available in Media Composer than in Xpress Pro and most of the HD resolutions in Xpress Pro only allow 1 stream. Media Composer allows you to adjust motion effects and Xpress Pro only has presets. These only scratch the surface of differences, for full details checkout this chart and see if the added features in Media Composer are for you and don't forget Genius Dv offers both Media Composer and Xpress Pro training classes!

Posted at 3:27 PM |

I always like to stay on top of the latest movies and what the editors are using to put together the latest blockbuster! This summer, Jason Bourne returns to unlock the secrets of his mysterious past in The Bourne Ultimatum, the latest espionage thriller in the popular film franchise. Matt Damon stars as the memory-challenged international spy, Jason Bourne, who must outwit the authorities and an assortment of assassins who keep him constantly on the run. Based on the novel by Robert Ludlum, this installment promises to uncover the truth behind Bourne’s dangerous and never-ending search for his own identity.

"I equate the Avid (system) to being part of the editing team. There is no way we could get everything done with this kind of time crunch without the ability to add machines
and people and just keep working."
-Mark Fitzgerald, Additional Editor, The Bourne Ultimatum

Some members of the editing team, such as Malina, also used their own Macintosh-based laptops equipped with Avid Xpress Pro software to handle a quick comp or other offline task. The easy exchange of media and files between the Macintosh- and Windows-based systems gave them the flexibility to handle a one-time job speedily and keep the project moving smoothly.

Check out the complete story and do not forget to sign up for our latest Avid Training Bundle, seats are going fast!

Posted at 5:27 PM |

You can trim a transition on either the outgoing side (A-side or tail), the incoming side (B-side or head), or both sides (dual-roller). Understanding what each version of Trim mode does is critical to successful trimming. You can use a single roll trim or a dual roll trim depending upon what you are trying to achieve. With a dual-roller trim you are not adding any more content to your program. You are simply either adding more and taking away from one shot or the other. This can appear to be very complex yet once you start playing with the basics of trimming you will find it to be very simple ans straight forward. If you perform and single-roller trim then you are adding footage from one clip. This can be done from either side and will lengthen your timeline. I will spend time breaking each down and how to use each one over the next few entires. Here are the ways you can enter and exit trim mode.

To enter trim mode:

1. Park on the transition you want to trim and press the Trim mode key
on the keyboard.

2. Lasso the transitions in the timeline. Draw the lasso by clicking at a point above the top track in the Timeline and by dragging to surround the transitions. You can drag from right to left or from left to right, and you can lasso single transitions across several contiguous tracks.

To exit trim mode:

Click the Trim Mode button on the Tool palette.

1. Press the Right Arrow key or the Left Arrow key.

2. Press Esc.

3. Click a specific location in the Timecode (TC1) track at the bottom of the Track Selector panel. The position indicator moves to that location.

Stay-tuned for more trimming tips.

Posted at 7:07 PM |

Knowing the keyboard shortcuts for any given program will greatly increase your workflow speed. Some overlooked shortcuts are the bin shortcuts in the Avid application. Of course you won't use them all but knowing just a few key shortcuts will help your speed up your day. The bin shortcuts are very important shortcuts to know and utilize. Here is the list of general bin shortcuts:

Ctrl + N Creates new bin
Ctrl + A Selects all items in a bin or project
Ctrl + W Closes the open window or dialog box
Ctrl + P Prints active bin
Ctrl + D Duplicates selected clip, sequence, or title
Ctrl + I Opens Console window
Shift + Ctrl + click Bin Menu Alternates Relink and Unlink commands in the Bin menu
Alt + drag clips between bins Copies clips instead of moving them.

Make sure you do not miss out on our latest Avid bundle training class. Seats are very limited!

Posted at 10:58 AM |

When using Avid Xpress or Media Composer, make sure you have the video quality menu button set to solid green when you are laying back to tape.

A critical mistake is to leave this button set to 'yellow' or 'yellow/green', because you won't be outputting at full quality.

Solid Yellow: 1/16 single field quality (optimum for heavy effects editing with maximum real-time effects)

Yellow / Green: 1/4 single field quality (default setting)

Solid Green: Full Quality with both fields

Posted at 9:37 PM |

If you are an Avid Xpress or Media Composer user, you've probably discovered that when you perform a motion effect, the audio doesn't slow down with the video.

To have matching audio that is 'time compressed', you will need to use an audio suite filter called 'time compression expansion. Better yet, you can change the speed of the audio without changing it's pitch. Here is how it works:

Continue reading "Slowing Down Audio in Avid Xpress" »

Posted at 7:41 AM |

If you are trying to upgrade to Media Composer and you are currently running Avid Xpress Pro you need to follow a few simple steps to get up and running with Media Composer. Before you can upgrade, you need to uninstall any older version of Avid already installed on your computer. Newer versions of Media Composer and Xpress Pro have separate applications, Avid Uninstallers, that make this process very easy. But older versions didn't have separate uninstaller applications. This includes Xpress Pro 4.8.x and Media Composer 1.8.x. So, make you sure check out the step-by-step instructions on how to uninstall your older version of Avid and don’t forget to sign up for one of our up and coming Avid training classes, seats are limited.

Posted at 8:13 PM |

What happens to your original file after you delete it from Avid. A student of mine asked me this today and he brings up a good point. What he is referring too is he had a QuickTime file that we imported into Avid and it from that import Avid created one OMF file and two AIFF files. The OMF is the video and the two AIFF files are the left and right audio files. We ended up not needing this particular file so we deleted it from our system, but he still needed the QuickTime file for another project. What happens when you tell Avid to delete the one master clip and the three media files?

Continue reading "Avid Xpress Pro- Media Composer: Deleting Files" »

Posted at 7:37 PM |

Having the ability to get your sequence back out on to tape as quickly as possible is very important. If you shoot in DV 50 or DVCPRO HD you are in luck. You can output DV 50 or DVCPRO HD sequences directly to a DV device. This lets you output without any loss due to compression and decompression.

You just need to make sure you are working in one of these following formats:

You can output:
DV 50-in any SD Project

DVCPRO HD-in this and only these projects: 720p/23.976·
720p/59.94·
1080i/50·
1080i/59.94

Posted at 8:57 PM |

Creating a 'speed ramp' effect with Avid Xpress can be a little tricky. Especially since you must create all speed changes directly within the Source Window.

This tutorial will walk you through on how to change the speed of a clip at a certain point, and then return to its original speed. Before, you begin I reccomend that you create an entirely new Avid sequence and practice this exercise using a single clip.

Continue reading "Slow Motion Speed Ramp with Avid Xpress" »

Posted at 1:07 PM |

If you are looking to find the Read Me Files for and version of Avid there is one page that has them all. The Read Me files are great for configuring, determining compatibility, and what fixes have been made from the previous version. Avid has included PC, Mac and Mac Intel. The list spans from version 4.6 up to the latest 5.72. You will also find some extra documents at the bottom for Mojo and Mojo SDI. Now you can look up and see your documentation or see if upgrading to the next version is in your future.

Posted at 6:35 PM |

Mapping your Avid keyboard is a critical step in becoming efficient with the Avid software. Important commands such as match frame, replace edit, and fit-to-fill are crucial commands when becoming an efficient editor.

Did you also know you can map any menu command to a keyboard shortuct with Avid Xpress or Media Composer? This is very useful for menu commands such as:

- Turning on-off the Audio Waveforms (Sample Plot)
- Creating Freeze Frames
- Displaying Media Relatives
- Full Screen Playback
- Activating Customized Workspaces

Every menu command can be mapped to a single key by using Avid's command palette.

Continue reading "Mapping Menu commands to an Avid Keyboard" »

Posted at 10:43 AM |

Imagine if you are working on your Mac using Final Cut Pro or Avid as you receive the dreaded error message 'Disk Not Readable on this computer' What do you do?

I reccommend that you keep a program called 'Disk Warrior' from AlSoft in your arsenal of troubleshooting tools. It will fix most disk directory problems. It will also fix most many OS X problems. You can download a full version directly from Alsoft's website.

Posted at 10:57 AM |

QUICKTIME 7.2 and Avid Editing
I always want to download and take advantage of the latest release of software. This is not a good idea for Avid editors. Avid engineers spend many hours testing and making sure that software works with Avid. If you download an untested version of Quicktime or another software you may run into many problems that seem unrelated but they will make your editing life a disaster. Recently, Apple released the 7.2 update to their popular media player, Quicktime. As always, it is not recommended to upgrade to the newest version until Avid has been able to test and qualify this version with our editing products. Do not download the latest versions of Quicktime. Once Avid has been able to test the 7.2 release, and code any required patches for it, another Tech Alert will be posted on the Avid knowledge base web site. It is advised that you turn off "Automatic Updates" for Quicktime to prevent unexpected / undesired updates from happening. This is a way for you to control when you want to update.

Posted at 7:16 PM |

A very important link is the end action override. This is an optional setting that can override the end action of the destination. The standard link sets the next destination; the override sets the end action of that destination, replacing its default end action. Overrides give you dynamic control over the navigation through a DVD. You can change the path through the DVD according to what the viewer has just watched.

Continue reading "Adobe Encore: Override End Action" »

Posted at 8:28 PM |

Understanding how to create navigation in a DVD can sometimes be overwhelming and confusing. Well one of the greatest misunderstood navigations is the end action. There are many ways you can navigate after your clip or menu ends. The end action specifies what happens when an item finishes playing, or when you have specified a duration for a menu and the viewer takes no action within that time.

Continue reading "Adobe Encore and End Action" »

Posted at 8:18 PM |

If you are looking for a quick way to get the letterbox 16x9 look fro your projects then Avid has a quick solution. It is called the 16:9 mask. This is treated just like any other effect and is a quick way to make your footage a have the HD or film letterbox. This effect is under Film>16:9 mask. There are a couple of way sot apply this effect to your footage and I have the best way is to put it on it’s own video line so you can turn it on or off. I put this effect on the upper most video line. The great thing is that if you have graphics or titles it will only mask the whole region and not reformat every line like the reformat effects do. This is a quick way to get the 16x9 look with minimal effort. Make sure you check out our latest Avid bundle class, seating is limited!

Posted at 8:03 PM |

Would you like to be able to quickly export a QuickTime movie from your timeline or from a subclip ? Well, look no further Avid Express Pro makes this task simple. There are a few simple steps to accomplishing this task so here is the quickest way to export a QuickTime file:

Continue reading "Avid Xpress Pro - Media Composer and Exporting a Quicktime" »

Posted at 1:50 PM |

I recently ran across a problem importing P2 files off a FireStore drive. I am unfamiliar with P2 files and when I tried to import them could not find anything to import so I blamed the cameraman for the error. Well come to find out Avid has a cure for this:

When attempting to import P2 media from a FireStore 100 drive, the Import P2 Clips to Bin or Import P2 Media commands do not find anything to import. The FireStore has an application command called "Organize P2;" this places all of your P2 media into a folder structure that most NLEs can understand. However, this command places the Contents folder on the root of the drive. When navigating to the drive through an Avid application, the application can not recognize the Contents folder as a P2 source, nor can it recognize the root level of the drive.

After running the "Organize P2" command on the FireStore, navigate into the drive through your OS and create a new folder on the root of the drive (the name of the folder can be anything you chose.) Place the entire Contents folder (and everything in it) inside this new folder. Now, when using the Import P2 commands in Avid, select this folder but do not navigate further into it. The application will recognize your clips and/or media and complete the import command.

This is very similar to how we had to handle the old OMF files on our first FireStore hard drive and it is a very simple fix!

Posted at 11:46 PM |

With the introduction of the intel based iMac's and Mac Pro systems, you may have the opportunity to use your Avid software in conjunction with many of the video editing applications that are available for Macintosh.

This is particularly true for authoring DVD's. I have yet to find an easier DVD authoring program than Apple's iDVD. For sounds effects, and sound design I prefer Apple's SoundTrack Pro.

Better yet, if you are lucky enough to have Apple's Final Cut Studio, you can use the best of both worlds! For myself, I prefer to edit my content with Avid Media Composer, but then I'll use DVD Studio Pro for my DVD authoring. I also use Apple Motion and LiveType for effects and compositing.

You can even import Motion or LiveType project files directly into an Avid bin window without ever having to export the file from Motion or LiveType.

Better yet, the Avid software will build a real-time moving matte for you, which will enable you to make keyframe adjustments in terms of your objects position. Here's how it all works.

Continue reading "Motion and LiveType with Avid Xpress" »

Posted at 1:50 PM |

As editors in the NLE world we all must contend with computer problems. Instead of have great knowledge of our application software we must also be computer technicians of software and hardware. I edit in Avid Xpress Pro on an HP 4300 machine and for the most part I run day to day without to many problems. Well not eveyr day is perfect and I came across the dreaded error Exception: DISK_ACCESS_DENIED filename: C:\OMFI media files. This message usually means trouble. In the past this has meant that I had a corrupt hard drive or corrupt files in that hard drive. Well, this happened again to me earlier this week and I this time it appeared to not be a corrupt file but somehow, permission was changed on one of drives. If this happens to you you need to immediately check out this how to change your permissions article and hopefully your problem will be fixed because if you have a corrupt file life will not be easy until it is rooted out.

Posted at 11:57 PM |

Capturing media is a very important yet time consuming process. As an editor you know that spending time capturing is a part of every editing project. The capture tool in Avid Express Pro displays various information about what you are about to capture. When it comes to media management do not forget to check the Target Drive area of the capture tool. This is key for making sure that you select the preferred drive and make sure you have enough space on that drive to capture the amount that you need. You select the target-drive from the pop-up menu and check your amount of free disk space from the Time-Remaining display. The Time-remaining display is an estimate based on your resolution settings, the number of tracks you have to be stored on the drive, and the free space available on the target drive. Always make sure that if your only need the audio from a 3-track source, that you turn off the video to save space. This also make it very easy to keep track of your work. When you capture paying close attention to detail will help you manage your projects in the long run. Avid Xpress Pro and Media Composer have on of the best media capture tools in the business, so make sure you take advantage of it power!

Posted at 11:48 PM |

Frame view in Avid is a very fast way to look at your clips visually. Having the correct frame to look at though is the only way to make good use of the frame view. By default, Frame view displays the first frame of each clip in the bin. You can, however, change the displayed frame with a frame that has meaning to you or a frame that actually identifies the clip.

To change the frame identifying the clip:

1. Select the clip that you want to change by single clicking on it. .
2. Do one of the following:
-Press and hold the K key on the keyboard (Pause), and press the L key (Play) to roll the footage within the frame forward at slow speed. To move backward through the footage, press and hold the K key and press the J key (Reverse Play).
-Press the 3 key or the 4 key on the keyboard (Step Forward or Step Backward) to move from frame to frame.
3. When you see the frame that you want use, release the keys.

The Avid application saves the displayed frame as part of the bin configuration. Make sure you don't miss out on the few remaining seats in our next Avid Training bundle, you will be glad you attend one of the most powerful and intense Avid training in the country!

Posted at 6:15 PM |

When you open your capture tool in Avid Express Pro you may have a power scheme warning pop-up. This will more than likely pop-up if you are editing on a laptop. If you do not remedy this problem your capturing may be interrupted either by your screen saver or your hard disks shutting down. This can be very aggravating if you are interrupted during a very long batch capture. To fix this on a Windows System, open your control panel and navigate to power options. Click the power schemes tab and choose Always On in the Power Schemes drop-down menu. As you can see all the boxes now say Never. The other tab you need to check is the Hibernation tab. Make sure that this is unchecked so that your computer will not go into Hibernation. Learn this and other valuable inside tips from one of our great up and coming Avid classes and get started in becoming the top in your profession.

Posted at 3:19 PM |

How movies are made is more interesting to me than the actual movie itself. Once again Avid has pulled through with a new big blockbuster, Ocean's Thirteen. North Hollywood-based Pivotal Post provided four Macintosh-based Media Composer Adrenaline systems to Academy Award winning editor Stephen Mirrione , Academy Award winning director Steven Soderbergh , and a team of editorial assistants for editing the film. Soderbergh also used his own Intel-based Macintosh laptop with Media Composer software on the project to choose selects and review edits. The filmmakers chose an HD workflow to enable editing with visually rich data, while streamlining the creation of as many as a half dozen large-format screenings. The film, which was shot on 35mm film, was telecined to HDCAM for editing and screening and to SD tape for backup and syncing of audio dailies. This was a great test for Media Composer (software version) and Avid came through with flying colors! Kick start your movie editing career by signing up for the latest Avid Bundle Training course!

Posted at 11:21 PM |

Do you have your Avid interface setup just the way you want but do not know how to save it so that you can return to it at any time? Or you may want to have multiple workspaces, for example, one for capturing, one for color correction, one for audio editing, etc. I have four separate workspaces that I use almost everyday. These workspaces not only make my interface easier to use but it also allows me to be more efficient at my job. Now isn’t that what we all want? Here is quick breakdown of how to save your favorite workspace:

Continue reading "Avid Xpress Pro Media ComposerWorkspaces" »

Posted at 11:17 PM |

There is a free media management tool for Avid Xpress / Media Composer that allows you to easily identify OMF or MXF files on your hard-drives. This software is only available for Windows users.

The current release is (build 19 pre-beta 0.3). I've tested it with media recorded from Avid Xpress 5.7, and Media Composer 2.5 It seems to work perfectly fine.

A media management tool is an absolutely necessity for anyone who uses Avid Xpress or Media Composer software.

If you are looking for a commercial Media Management Tool, you can always check out 'Media Mover 3.0' which is available for OS X and Windows. A free working evaluation version is available.

Media Mover has long been the stable Media Management software for Avid users, and has been recently upgraded,

New features in MediaMover 3.0:
-- Compatible with all Avid media formats - MXF, OMF, AIF, SDII, WAV
-- Works with local storage, Avid Unity or any other SAN storage system
-- Supports all Avid editing systems
-- OS X and Windows versions available
-- Dynamic storage space monitoring
-- Generates detailed reports on each project's media
-- Integrated backup function makes archiving projects easy

Posted at 3:38 PM |

Once you have spent time building many different projects and have a few hard drives on your system it may become hard to find where your project bins live. You can easily find where your media is located using the reveal file feature located in each bin’s fast menu. What if you need to find where the bin is located on your hard drive? There is also a reveal file for your bin but it is located in the project window. You need to highlight the bin you want to locate in the project window and the right-on it and choose reveal file. The system searches all available drives, opens the Windows Explorer, and highlights a related media file. This is a great way to stay organized and find the location of your bin file for transfer or back-up purposes. Our up and coming Avid classes are filling up fast, sign up now and reserve one of the last seats available.

Posted at 5:07 PM |

Giving your text that extra look is a very important part of taking your work to the professional level. I frequently use some form of glowing title. You can add a glow very easily in the new Avid Marquee Title Tool which is now bundled with Express Pro HD. To simulate a glow follow these few steps.
1. Highlight the object you want to glow and choose windows then properties and shadow.
2. Adjust your shadow properties to match these.
-Show shadow need to be selected
-Type: Drop
-X offset: 0
-Y offset: 0
-Opacity: 50 or higher
-Softness: 50 or higher
-Shadow color: glow color
You can adjust your opacity and softness to your application. The opacity is really depending on the color you choose and the background color in which the graphic will live. Try this the next time you want to spice up your text and discover the power and ease of Avid Marquee. Marquee is now part of our very popular Avid Training Bundle, sign up now!

Posted at 10:02 PM |

Would you like to be able to quickly export a QuickTime movie from your timeline or from a sub-clip? Well, look no further Avid Express Pro makes this task simple. There are a few simple steps to accomplishing this task so here is the quickest way to export a QuickTime file:

1. Mark an in and out around the area you want to make your movie from. Either in the source or record monitor.
2. Now right click on the desired monitor and select export. An export as dialogue box will open and you will need to select options in the lower right hand corner.
3. An export settings box will now open and you will have many choices for exporting your movie. For this example we will choose QuickTime movie.
4. You now need to decide the other elements you want to go along with your movie, for example Audio only, Video only or Video and Audio.
5. Make sure that Use Enabled tracks is selected in the upper right hand corner.
6. Depending on which color levels you are using RGB or 601/701 just make sure if you are going to import this into another program that the settings are the same.
7. I leave everything else the same unless you know specifically you need to change them. The same as source with Avid codec should be left on and the aspect ratio set at native dimensions.
8. If you will be using these settings over and over you can now save these settings at the bottom by selecting Save As. You can now give this a name that is relevant to the settings and access it any time from the Export dialogue box.
This should get you on you way to exporting a QuickTime movie and you can use this same technique for other exports.

Posted at 10:27 PM |

When you already have one effect applied to a transition in a sequence, you can apply an effect to multiple transitions at the same time.

How to apply an effect to multiple transitions in the Timeline:

1. If there is not already an effect on one of the transitions, add a transition effect.
2. Enter Effect mode, for example, by selecting Toolset > Effects Editing.
3. Click the existing transition effect to select it.
4. Click above the Timeline and begin dragging to activate a selection box. Continue to drag down and either to the left or right to include additional transitions in the selection.
5. Release the mouse button when you have lassoed all the transitions you want.
6. If the transitions where you want to apply the effect are not contiguous, Shift+click any transition to deselect it.
7. In the Effect Palette, double-click the icon for the effect that you want to apply to the transitions.

Do not forget to sign up for one of up and coming Avid classes!

Posted at 11:53 PM |