If you're familiar with Lightroom, you know what Split Toning is: pushing the shadows and highlights of a shot towards different hues. Who said it can't be done in Media Composer? No one? I didn't think so. SHOW NOTES Check out the blog entry for this week's episode: http://avscr.de/53 Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/avidscreencast Become a fan of the Avid Screencast on Facebook: http://facebook.com/avidscreencast...
It's almost Christmas and I did the Santa last year . What's left? Snow! So this week, we're going to add snow to an image and we'll use a couple of advanced options to make it look ab bit more real (or a bit less fake, depending on your perspective). SHOW NOTES I want to wish you all a very merry Christmas or happy holidays or whatever you celebrate! Have a good time, appreciate your family (even though it may be hard!) and get yourself out of the edit suite for a couple of days (even though it...
Starting January 1st, I'll have a new job. While that's a good thing, it also means a lot more work. So more work plus wanting to spend time with my family now and again means less time for the podcast. Right now, I'm doing a show a week, and I'm spending pretty much a whole day on each show. I will not be able to keep going at this rate. So long story short: There'll be a lot less podcasts next year. I'm sorry, I know it's important to keep posting regularly, but I just won't be able to do it a...
This week, we'll continue creating a semi-transparent video progress bar as you know them from Youtube et. al. Last week, we created the background elements in Marquee, this week, we'll create the remaining elements and then animate them in Media Composer. SHOW NOTES Learn the Marquee basics here: http://learn.avid.com/content/tutorials/marquee/tutorial.html Check out the blog entry for this week's episode: http://avscr.de/51 Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/avidscreencast Become a fan o...
This week and next, we'll create a semi-transparent video progress bar as you know them from Youtube et. al. We'll create the elements in Marquee, then (next week) animate in Media Composer. The cool thing about this approach is that you'll be able to change the length of the animation to fit your piece of video just by trimming it! SHOW NOTES Learn the Marquee basics here: http://learn.avid.com/content/tutorials/marquee/tutorial.html Check out the blog entry for this week's episode: http://avsc...
This week, another viewer suggestion: We'll create the high-contrast, saturated look that is common to many sports trailers. We'll also play around with BCC's Glow and add some flicker to the shots. SHOW NOTES Vlad Video: The Stars (Original Clip) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O3vOnyOEmU Music: Torley on Piano - Gymo (from the Album solo piano 7: Improvisations for a New Age ) Flickr videos: Jump Around! - Camp Randall, UW - OSU By eytonz http://www.flickr.com/photos/eytonz/5092774897/ Video: ...
This week, we'll make footage look like it has been shot with a surveillance camera by distorting and degrading it. Plus, when we switch "cameras", we'll make the image break up for just a fraction of a second. SHOW NOTES If you want to manipulate your footage a bit further, try the Film Damage Effect from the BCC Effects category. Many of the option will not improve your result, but I like the Flicker option. The idea for this week's show comes from Evan Crichton of Veejo Digital Video Producti...
In this last episode in the audio series, I'll show you how to apply audio effects in Media Composer and a couple of neat real-world tips (like limiting you master output) that will hopefully help you out one day or another. SHOW NOTES You should know what a compressor/limiter is, how it works and how you set it up. This website explains it -- don't be fooled by its gruesome looks (after all, it was designed by an audio guy): http://www.pcmus.com/compressors.htm Check out the blog entry for this...
This week, we'll look into Avid's EQ Tool. It's pretty basic (look for more powerful EQs in the AudioSuite), so'll we'll cover what it can and can't do. Also: Build your own EQ preset into the Presets of the EQ's fast menu. SHOW NOTES These are the file paths to the Site EQ Presets bin: Windows: drive:\Program Files\Avid\Avid editing application\ SupportingFiles\Site_Effects\Site_EQs_Bin.avb Mac: Macintosh HD/Applications/Avid editing application/ SupportingFiles/Site_Effects/Site_EQs_Bin.avb Ch...
There's more than one way to manipulate audio in Media Composer (no surprise there, there's more than one way to do pretty much anything in MC). So this week, we'll explore Automation Gain, more often referred to as Audio Keyframes. You'll learn how to use this feature as well as what its benefits (and disadvantages) are compared to regular audio editing. SHOW NOTES Want to toggle audio keyframes on and off with your keyboard and do some more cool things? Check out ASC #02: Toggling Timeline Vie...
In the fourth installment on our series on audio, we'll take an in-depth look at the audio mixer, going through all options that are available to you to adjust multiple segments at a time. SHOW NOTES Check out the blog entry for this week's episode: http://avscr.de/44 Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/avidscreencast Become a fan of the Avid Screencast on Facebook: http://facebook.com/avidscreencast...
This week, we'll make some very simple audio edits, create transitions, check out waveforms and get rid of those horrid pops that are sometimes created by audio edits. This is actually the first part of a show that was to include the audio mixer as well, but the episode just turned out to be way too long so I had to split it up into two parts. SHOW NOTES Want to toggle waveforms on and off with your keyboard and do some more cool things? Check out ASC #02: Toggling Timeline Views With Your Keybo...
After last week's look into Avid's Pan & Zoom effect, this week we check out the Pan & Zoom effect that is included in Boris Continuum Complete 5 and later. It's a great effect that is incredibly easy to use, and we'll create a simple zoom in auto-mode (it will literally take you 30 seconds to do) and get into the nitty-gritty for more complex animations. SHOW NOTES If you haven't watched it yet, check out last week's episode on Avid Pan & Zoom: http://avidscreencast.com/asc37 The Ph...
This week's episode is all about stereo tracks: How to create them, how to get stuff into them, how to get rid of them again when the ugly beast named Compatibility rears its ugly head. Plus: Find out how to make me rich! SHOW NOTES Check out the blog entry for this week's episode: http://avscr.de/42 Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/avidscreencast Become a fan of the Avid Screencast on Facebook: http://facebook.com/avidscreencast...
I was asked by a lot of people to do tutorials on audio editing, so this week I'll start a series on exactly that. This first episode deals with the various audio settings in Media Composer - it's a bit dry, but it lays the foundation for the episodes to come. So stick with me. SHOW NOTES Steve Cohen's great article on the different flavors of midpoint attenuations in MC's audio dissolves: http://splicenow.com/2010/01/13/audio-dissolves-come-in-two-flavors/ Check out the blog entry for this week...
So you want to change the skin tones in a shot by doing a secondary color correction. You're using the methods outlined in ASC #16 (and of course, they work incredibly well!), but there's that nasty balloon in the shot that has a skin-tone-like color but that you don't want to affect. What you need now, my friend, is a garbage matte. A garbage matte restricts the key to applying only to a specific section of the image. I hear you say: "But can it be done in Media Composer?" I say: "You bet your ...
The way Media Composer processes effects has some weird side-effects: Sometimes an effect applied to an upper video track also affects the video tracks below -- whether you intended that or not. So this week we'll take control over that issue by learning how to use nesting to your advantage. SHOW NOTES Check out the blog entry for this week's episode: http://avidscreencast.com/asc39 Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/avidscreencast Become a fan on the Avid Screencast on Facebook: http://fa...
I've had several requests for tutorials on Pan and Zoom, so this week and next, this will be out topic. This week, we'll look into Avid's own Pan & Zoom effect. It is used to, well, pan and zoom into images that are larger than your sequence dimensions without quality loss (as would occur if you imported the image into a bin and then used, say, a 3D Warp for panning and zooming). We'll create simple and a bit more complex animations, learn about the different temporal and spatial interpolati...
With Media Composer 5, you can access Quicktime and R3D files natively using AMA (provided you have the horsepower). In this episode, I'll show you how to link to AMA volumes, change the R3D source settings (such as ISO, color temperature etc.) within Media Composer, adjust the formatting and then transcode to DNxHD. Editorial note: I apologize for the bad audio quality in this and last week's podcast. Snow Leopard seems to reset my audio input gain now and again, but this way you finally know w...
I'm finally on Media Composer 5, so in this week's episode, I'll introduce you to the most obvious new features such as the Smart Tools, Realtime Audio Effects, the new Interface and some new Keyboard Shortcuts. There are a lot of different tutorials covering similar subjects, so check out the show notes for more. SHOW NOTES Steve Cohen's Introduction to the MC5 Timeline. If you haven't watched it yet, shame on you! http://blip.tv/file/3739338 Scott Simmons' Editblog: A tour around Avid Media Co...
I was asked if it was possible to get the Glow Effect without Boris Continuum Complete. Had I been a smart-ass, I would have replied: "Sure, buy Sapphire!" But I'm trying not to be, so I came up with something that looks kinda similar, and I called it Film Flash, because "Glow Part 2" seemed lame. In this tutorial, I'll use a Blur and the Color Effect to create that Film Flash. SHOW NOTES Check out the blog enry for this week's episode: http://avidscreencast.com/asc34 Follow me on Twitter: http:...
Nothing fancy, but a solid workhorse: Want to make sure that your sequence is complying with technical broadcast standards? The Safe Color Limiter Effect is your friend. SHOW NOTES Check out the blog enry for this week's episode: http://avidscreencast.com/asc33 Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/avidscreencast Become a fan on the Avid Screencast on Facebook: http://facebook.com/avidscreencast
In this episode, we'll transition into a title by starting with a blur and then slowly letting it focus. To do this we'll have to look into how titles actually work, redoing it as a simple Matte Key and then manipulating Key and Fill to achieve out goal. You see, it's fun for the whole family! And if you were hoping for Media Composer 5 content: As soon as I get my hands on the new version, there'll be some. Might take a bit, though, sorry. SHOW NOTES Avid's Marquee video tutorial http://learn.a...
This week's episode features a request from Youtube user Instantslugger, who wanted to know how to do a curtain transition within Media Composer. Turns out it's not that hard. We'll do it using Avid's Paint effect and a Matte Key, plus I'll show you how to make the transition reusable and real-time. SHOW NOTES Props to Instantslugger for making this cool request: http://www.youtube.com/instantslugger The transition was oroginally used by skee.tv: http://www.youtube.com/skeetv Check out the blog ...
Everybody knows the Timewarp only applies to video. But what if you want to change the speed of your audio as well? In this episode, we'll do just that with the help of a couple of different AudioSuite plugins that come with Media Composer. SHOW NOTES Check out the blog enry for this week's episode: http://avidscreencast.com/asc30 Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/avidscreencast Become a fan on the Avid Screencast on Facebook: http://facebook.com/avidscreencast...
No show this week, so I thought I'd give you some food for thought. Paul Sampson created a great document listing a bunch of useful Avid Console commands. (You find the console under Tools. But if you didn't know about it before reading this, maybe you don't want to mess with it.) So I added the document to the feed and hope Paul doesn't go DMCA on me. Of course, as a subscriber of the HD feed, you get the PDF in much higher resolution! SHOW NOTES Paul Sampson's Console Commands Page http://paul...
In this episode, we'll create a nice Glow transition using a Boris Continuum Complete Effect that ships with Media Composer. SHOW NOTES Check out the blog enry for this week's episode: http://avidscreencast.com/asc29 Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/avidscreencast Become a fan on the Avid Screencast on Facebook: http://facebook.com/avidscreencast
In the final installment of the Color Correction series, we'll highlight parts of a shot by using a vignette. Then, I'll go through some Color Correction options that I hadn't mentioned in previous episodes. SHOW NOTES If you really want to learn about color correction, I strongly recommend Steve Hullfish's "The Art and Technique of Digital Color Correction" http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0240809904?ie=UTF8&tag=avidscree-20 (Disclaimer: If you buy the book from the link above, I'll get a s...
In this episode, we'll continue matching one shot to another. We'll do it manually, and we'll use Avid's curves. SHOW NOTES If you really want to learn about color correction, I strongly recommend Steve Hullfish's "The Art and Technique of Digital Color Correction" http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0240809904?ie=UTF8&tag=avidscree-20 (Disclaimer: If you buy the book from the link above, I'll get a small kickback from Amazon.) Check out the blog enry for this week's episode: http://avidscreenc...
One of the most common tasks when doing color correction is matching two shots. So this week and next, we'll do exactly that. As always, I like working with the curves in Avid, but you should be able to use the skills learned in this tutorial when using the Color Wheels as well. Sorry for splitting this tutorial into two episodes, but I try to keep the length of the podcast around ten minutes -- this one would have been too long. SHOW NOTES If you really want to learn about color correction, I s...
