Posts Tagged ‘video production columbus ohio’

Avid DS Timecode Boxes: A Must for Every NLE

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

Avid Time Code Boxes

The Avid DS has incredible capabilities- vector graphics, compositing tools, 3D objects, etc. Yes, everything coming out of a DS looks fantastic. But there is one not-so-fancy feature of the Avid DS that makes it a great editor- a feature that other NLEs need to adopt.

That feature is “timecode boxes” and it is located underneath the timeline. Timecode boxes display timecode data of either selected objects on the timeline or your in and out marks. For a selected clip you can also choose to display source timecodes or timeline timecodes. The important information you need to edit is always right there, quick and easy to find- durations, start and end times, and mark in and out points.

Unfortunately, with many NLEs it’s not always that easy. For example, there are many times as an editor that you just want to know how long a clip is. Just tell me how long it is. Don’t make me zoom in on the timeline, pull down a menu, set ins and outs, whatever. It shouldn’t take long to find this out, but with some NLEs it can require some digging. The Avid DS timecode boxes have this information right there with one click no matter what scale the timeline is at.

But the real beauty with timecode boxes is that you can edit with them by typing in new values, either absolute values (a whole new timecode entry) or relative values (add five frames, for example). Combining this with the DS’s ripple command gives you tremendous editing speed, accuracy, and power. This is much better than the manual clip-moving and handle-dragging methods that most NLEs rely on. If you need a clip to be seven frames shorter, instead of zooming in on the timeline as much as you need and then dragging the handle back seven frames, you can just select the clip and type “minus seven” in the duration timecode box. You can also copy and paste values- if you need a clip to be the same duration of another clip just copy and paste the duration timecode box!

Timecode boxes make reformatting a television show a breeze- just turn on the ripple feature, click on the first clip of a segment and enter your new timecode in the start time timecode box. Your whole segment shifts to this new timecode. Or you can type in a new duration for your commercial break segment and the rest of the show will shift.

These are just a few examples. If you have any great uses for timecode boxes, please reply! Now when I edit with another NLE and feel DS withdrawal, the pain I feel is not from missing the Avid DS’s whiz-bang special effects- it’s the timecode boxes.

– Rob Dixon (Avid DS Editor)

Tags:
Posted in NLEs | View Comments

Final Cut Pro or Avid Media Composer?

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

Avid vs. Final Cut Pro

Just when I was starting to wonder if Final Cut Pro was beginning to catch up with Avid, I read this quote on Avid’s Facebook page:

“I don’t know anyone doing $200 million dollar movies who is not cutting on a Media Composer system. At this level, where there’s so much at stake, everyone uses it.” – Roger Barton, Editor, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

I personally don’t know anyone working on $200 million dollar movies, period; let alone ones using FCP on $200 million dollar movies. But I do know a screening room full of editors using Avid products on a daily, professional basis.

I cut on an Avid Media Composer in part because that’s what I started on back in 1997. So I may be an old-school creature of Avid habit, but I am acutely aware of many modern differences between these two battle bots that, for me and the clients I work with daily, continue to push Avid to the forefront of the editing world. Let’s briefly explore just a few…

For starters, FCP is Mac only. While that is certainly not a flaw of the editing software, it is a sizeable shortcoming nonetheless (unless you only ever intend to work on a Mac, or interface with other Mac based projects). Most clients frown on the inability to resurrect or even port projects as needed.

While we’re on the topic of projects, let’s chat a bit about media management. Any post house large enough to regularly need more than one edit system could benefit from some type of shared project/media storage device. FCP doesn’t offer a full-on solution to this need, there is an Xsan setup. While this does allow some sharing between edit systems, it requires much more organizational effort due to the fact that FCP is timeline based and not project based. This requires producers and editors to be tirelessly diligent in their organizational skills.

Guardian Studios has a 16TB Avid Unity safely holding all our projects and HD media. The beauty is this: multiple users can access the same project and the same media from different edit systems at the same time. Period. This means the client can walk in with an external HDD (or even a P2 card) and we can instantly pull the media files into the project and begin working. Or, we can resurrect an old project on one edit system while beginning a new project on another; all the while using the same media. From rough cuts in the Media Composer to Avid DS finishing, Avid’s tapeless workflow offers fast and seamless integration into any workflow.

One major time consuming task is the render. While every edit system needs to do some rendering at some point along the way, FCP needs to render when the sequence settings do not match the material. While you can mix formats on the timeline these days, it does not mean that the playback will be in real time. The only way around this is to convert all the material to a common native format. Most clients simply don’t want to sit through a long render or file conversion as they watch their budget click by 1% at a time! Of course with Avid Media Access, Avid’s new application programming interface (API), developers can now write their own codec wrappers, thus providing support for many video formats that has, in the past, been a downside to Avid.

Obviously, I am an avid Avid proponent, and not just because I cut my teeth on a first-gen Media Composer. In fact, if there was time, I could probably think of 200 million reasons why I edit on an Avid Media Composer every single day.

So let’s hear your thoughts. I gladly welcome any Final Cut Pro users to counterpoint this discussion.

Tags:
Posted in NLEs, Video | View Comments

Flat Camera Work vs Dynamic Camera Work

Friday, August 28th, 2009

Flat vs. Dynamic Camera work

National Spots move the camera, local spots point the camera. There is a difference -allow me to explain. A moving camera shot immediately says to our subconscious mind something along the lines of “Wow, that’s cool.” It’s simply that the camera is showing us something in a way that we can not experience in normal life. The camera is moving up or down, swinging over the heads of people like a bird in flight, gliding through a room smooth as silk – its movement is taking us as an audience somewhere special. As an audience we expect and demand Dynamic visualization, or at least we crave it…

Flat camera work resembles our own normal experience. A camera on a tripod is like a person sitting in a chair. Look left, look right, look up, look down… it’s flat. It is expected. The reason that I chose flat to describe this way of shooting video is this – video shot in this way creates a two dimensional image for a two dimensional media (TV) for a client/audience that is accustomed to viewing the world in three dimensional space.

Dynamic camera work gives the impression of three dimensional space in a two dimensional medium. This convincing illusion happens when the foreground and the background move in relationship to each other showing us the distance between them.

Not every shot has to be dynamic. It is also not true that every spot has to have dynamic shots.
This is part of the creative process to decide how best to utilize our tools to make your message make an impact.

Tools for Dynamic Camera work available at Guardian Studios.

  • Cam Mate Jib Arm: This camera crane can be built out as short as 8′ to 30′ to give huge movement. With its robotically controlled head, the camera has complete freedom to get the shot.
  • Glide Cam: This harness mounted piece of gear is worn by the Director of Photography. Walk, run, forwards, backwards, complicated choreographed moves, inside and out… all super smooth.
  • Dolly: This platform is simple yet highly effective tool to move the camera across the ground in a variety of ways to “sell the shot”.

Tags:
Posted in Cameras, Video | View Comments

How do you determine a Local Commercial from a National Commercial?

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

As we sit and enjoy our evening TV shows we inevitably see commercials for a variety of products and services. Within that variety we are exposed to a wide spectrum of quality.

I feel that we as an audience instinctively sense the difference between Local and National commercials; let’s try to articulate the difference. I will share my thoughts about the differences I see and then you tell me your thoughts and your own independent musings.

Below, I have listed a few key differences between Local and National Spots. These are not rules or even theories, in the scientific sense, but some aspects that I watch for when creating a commercial.

The usage of graphics

Local spots use graphics more liberally than National. Local spots want to convey more specific information than National spots. The easiest way to put more information into a spot is to add textual graphics. Don’t get me wrong though, there are spots that are “heavy” on the graphics that work in both National and Local spots.

Fact Laden Scripts

National spots tend to dance around facts or delicately nestle them in tidy packages within the spots. Local spots seem to use every opportunity to articulate the facts throughout their spots. However, there are exceptions and both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages.

What’s my motivation?

Feel/Learn Meter

Typically national spots want you to “feel” and local spots want their audience to “learn”… in a nutshell. Both of these approaches can backfire. Make the audience feel too much and they may not learn. Try to give too much info and your audience may turn the channel, space out, ignore your message, or simply not be able to remember the info.


Best Least Memorable Commercial?

We have all had this conversation:

    “I saw this hysterical commercial last night! Did you see it?”
    “What was it for?”
    “I don’t remember… but it sure was funny!”

The flip side is confusion that comes about by trying to educate your audience to fast. This can be due to a fact heavy script and/or over use of graphics to explain your business and services. Pick a message, boil it down to its essence, and wrap it up in an exciting package.

The Solution?

When we consult with our clients, we strive to give the client a balanced commercial with appropriate levels of National “Feel” and Local “Learn(ing)”. By focusing on the core message and relating it to your audience, we focus on making a memorable spot that leaves them with the core lesson – your website, business name and/or your custom jingle rolling around their head for days.

Tags:
Posted in Commercial | View Comments