view from the cutting room floor

What makes good editing?

Tim — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 19:38:51 +0000

Compared to many of the other Oscar categories, “Best Film Editing” is often a tough one to predict. With “Best Cinematography,” “Best Art Direction,” and “Best Costume Design,” for instance, you can clearly see how each nominee demonstrated a mastery of their craft and set themselves apart from their peers. With editing, however, aptly called “The Invisible Art” of cinema, what’s been left out is just as important as what ends up in the final cut. The audience has no realistic way of knowing what compromises in performance the editor had to make in order to elucidate a specific plot point or which amazing shots couldn’t be used simply because they presented an inconsistency in story or character. Even a seasoned editor, who knows better than anyone else what the editorial process involves, may not be able to recognize a brilliant feat of editing without a glimpse of what was left on the cutting room floor. Sometimes a poorly written, haphazardly-shot mess of a story can be turned into something meaningful in the skillful hands of a top-notch editor, and similarly, a beautiful story can be butchered by an editor who doesn’t let the material find its own voice and tries to impose a style that doesn’t fit the material.

I like to break down the craft of editing into two parts, which I call the “micro” level and the “macro” level, for lack of better terms. The micro level is how each individual shot relates to the ones around it. Does each combination of shots disclose information in the best way possible? Do the shots fit together well and flow smoothly without being jarring, awkward, or confusing? Is there a minimum of discontinuity between shots, which tends to take the audience out of the story? Is there an inherent rhythm to the cutting that breathes life into each scene?

The macro level of editing is “the big picture” – how each scene relates to the scenes that come before and after it and helps set the tone of the entire film. Is the story told in the most effective manner possible? Are the characters fully developed and realistic? Does each scene begin and end at the most opportune time? Is the film as a whole concise enough to avoid rambling, but fleshed out enough to avoid plot holes and inconsistencies? Is the audience absorbed by the story?

The delicate job of the editor is to pay just the right amount of attention to each level of editing. Get too lost in the “micro” edits, and you’ll end up with a weak film. Even though each individual edit may be brilliantly executed, if you can’t tell a story well, you haven’t done your job. Similarly, if you only focus on structure and cannot put two shots together cleanly, the audience will be taken out of the story. For example, I knew “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” would not win last year because of how long and rambling the film was on a macro level, even though Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall did a fine job on each individual scene. And while I thought “Milk” was a beautiful film that was well-told, I couldn’t help but feel that “Slumdog Millionaire” was just as good a story, but with better micro-editing.

The best editors understand and exploit the natural give-and-take between micro-editing and macro-editing. Sometimes you can get away with a jarring discontinuity if the audience is fully absorbed in the emotional arc of a scene. And sometimes you can rescue a scene or instill a certain feeling in your audience simply by changing the placement of just one shot, or swapping out one line reading for a slightly different one. Having the experience and judgment to make tiny decisions with enormous consequences is what sets Oscar-nominated editors apart from everyday schlubs like you and me (if you happen to be an Oscar-nominated editor and you’re reading my blog, check out the “About Me” page for my credits and contact info!). Granted, on any project there will be many “cooks in the kitchen” when it comes to the macro-editing (the director, producers, and studio all trump the editor when it comes to storytelling decisions), but as the person most intimately familiar with all of the footage, the editor shouldn’t be afraid to let his or her opinion be heard.

This year’s crop of Oscar-nominated editors will be presenting noteworthy scenes and talking about their films and careers at A.C.E.’s annual “Invisible Art, Visible Artists” event at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood the day before the Oscars. I make it a point to go every year to glean whatever insight I can from the masters of our craft. It’s always fun to watch scenes from the films I haven’t had a chance to see yet, and it’s equally enjoyable to re-watch scenes from the films I’ve already seen and analyze the work that went into them from an editor’s perspective. If you attend the event, keep in mind how each editor approached both the micro and macro aspects of editing their respective films when predicting a winner. And for your information, I’m 4 for 4 on the “Best Film Editing” Oscar after attending “Invisible Art, Visible Artists!”

Tagged: Egyptian Theatre, Invisible Art Visible Artists, macro-editing, micro-editing, Milk, Oscars, Slumdog Millionaire, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Avid on the Upswing

Tim — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 05:27:38 +0000

In case anybody was still wondering if Avid’s recent rebranding was a good idea, I recently attended two industry events that helped prove that the company that brought us Media Composer twenty years ago is not going anywhere anytime soon. With a renewed sense of forward thinking and a commitment to actually listening to the users of their product, Avid’s recent releases of their 3.0 and 4.0 versions of Media Composer, along with a spiffy new series of hardware, helped prove to customers that there are still some advantages to throwing down a little extra cash to buy the editing toolset used by the majority of big-budget Hollywood productions.

The first event I attended (GenCre8 at The Echoplex on November 7) took me completely by surprise, as I was unaware it was an Avid-sponsored event until I arrived. Billed as a “secret performance by The Crystal Method” (the celebrated hard-edged electronic music duo whose music you’d probably recognize from various TV shows and car commercials), the event attracted a niche crowd of music enthusiasts from the Los Angeles area. Arriving at the event not fully sure how or why it was free (or even if I would make it inside), I was pleasantly surprised to see Avid banners draped everywhere upon entering and instantly recalled how Avid rebranded all of their subsidiary companies under the single name “Avid” last year to minimize confusion and unify their many divisions.

In addition to being a full-fledged electronic music performance, the event featured a 20-minute demonstration by the opening act (a rap duo called “The Chosen Few,” who were actually pretty talented) to promote Pro Tools and demonstrate how easy and fast it is to create beats using their software. While the spiel itself could have been streamlined a little bit (it seemed to drag on at times, partly because the guy working the computer was also simultaneously trying to describe how Pro Tools works), the entire event was a pretty savvy marketing maneuver. What better way to promote a product and establish brand identity than a demonstration to a captive audience who has already proven interest and dedication to electronic music just by showing up to a “secret” show? Not to mention the fact that attendees would have a positive association with the Avid brand regardless of the demonstration, simply due to the fact that The Crystal Method played an incredible set afterward. Very slick, Avid. I tip my hat to you.

The second event I attended was billed as an Avid event from the start. The LAFCPUG (Los Angeles Final Cut Pro User Group) spent an evening (November 18) discussing the differences between Avid Media Composer and Final Cut Pro and evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of each. Fellow editing bloggers Shane Ross and Steve Cohen each gave demonstrations on the new Media Composer 4.0′s ability to Mix-and-Match frame rates and resolutions in real-time, as well as the new AMA architecture and advancements in Trim Mode and Segment Mode. The highlight of the night, however, was the keynote address by Walter Murch, the undisputed “godfather of editing.” After spending the last 7 years using Final Cut Pro, Walter recently joined the film “The Wolfman” mid-stream when they were already firmly entrenched in an Avid workflow. Given his unique perspective having gone from Avid to Final Cut and back again, Walter was able to give candid insight into the technical advantages and disadvantages of each system. It was interesteing to note that while Walter praised some of Avid’s new features, when prodded by an audience member’s question, he responded that if given the choice, he would still cut his next feature on Final Cut.

Aside from being a great networking opportunity (I got to introduce myself to three of my favorite editing bloggers and shake hands with my idol), the event reinforced the notion that both platforms are moving in the right direction and that the rivalry between the two companies is good for the industry (competition = innovation and aggressively low pricing). As technology continues to advance and workflows move increasingly toward high definition, tapeless acquisition, and web-based delivery, it will be fascinating to see how Avid and Final Cut each adapt to the continuously changing landscape of the film and television industries.

Tagged: AMA, Avid Media Composer 4.0, LAFCPUG, Little Frog in Hi Def, mix and match, Shane Ross, Splice Here, Steve Cohen, The Wolfman, Walter Murch

Script-based editing: first impressions

Tim — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 06:52:02 +0000

Most of my professional editorial experience is in the reality TV world, where the footage usually dictates the story, as opposed to the other way around for fictional, script-based storytelling. But recently I got involved with my first scripted project in several years – a web series about the lives of three twenty-something male roommates living in Los Angeles (visit http://www.guessagain.net to see the pilot episode, which I did not edit). As a frequent reader of online editing blogs similar to this one, I’d heard about a feature called “ScriptSync” that a small but devoted number of Avid users raved about. For the first episode of the web series that I was assigned to cut, I decided to try out script-based editing and see what all the fuss was about.

After a few minutes of clumsily trying to figure out how to import my script and attach various takes to it, I was soon off and running with Avid’s fairly intuitive script interface. At this point, your script must be a text file – a limitation that I hope will eventually be broadened to include options for PDF’s and even Final Draft files, which would save some time copying and pasting text between applications. Once your script is imported into Media Composer, it shows up in your project window and can be opened, closed, moved, and renamed like a bin.

My biggest concern was that grouped footage would not be able to be mapped to the script, since most of our webisodes are shot with two cameras and a separate digital audio recorder. Turns out my worries were unfounded; groups can be assigned to the script just as easily as master clips. The process of “lining” the script with your footage is as simple as lassoing whatever dialogue a certain take encompasses and then dragging the clip onto the script. Media Composer will automatically line the script with your take and include a thumbnail of your shot that can be dragged to any point along the vertical line for convenient placement (even above or below where the take begins and ends). I couldn’t figure out how to change a shot’s thumbnail once a take was assigned to the script, so I found it useful to assign an appropriate thumbnail for each shot in “Frame” view in my footage bin before lining the script.

Once you’re finished with all your takes, you’ll have a lined script that will rival any script supervisor’s (and you don’t have to deal with messily written take numbers or hastily drawn lines). From here, you can add script marks manually or let ScriptSync work its magic. Applying ScriptSync is as easy as selecting all the takes on your lined script and clicking “ScriptSync” from the Script menu. A dialog box will pop up asking what language your dialogue is in, which audio track you would like it to scan for dialogue, and a few other options pertaining to the formatting of your script. Once you click OK, sit back for a few minutes and let Media Composer do its thing.

When it’s done analyzing your audio, your lined script will now have hash marks down the length of each lined take matching up the script dialogue to the point in each take where that line of dialogue is spoken. Yes, you read that correctly. Media Composer uses voice recognition algorithms to match each line of dialogue in your script to its spoken delivery. By double-clicking any script mark, you instantly load that take in your Source monitor, cued up to that specific line, with an in-point already set for you. Comparing line readings between different takes is as easy as hitting the Tab key. Needless to say, this completely eliminates the time-consuming process of scrubbing through a clip looking for a specific line.

Click the thumbnail to see a screen grab of a lined script from "Guess Again"

Truth be told, I’ve found the voice recognition to be a little bit finicky, especially when it comes to improvisation, overlapping dialogue, resets within the same take, and crew noise and discussion before and after the scene. It may help to subclip only the usable parts of each take before assigning them to the script, to avoid confusing the voice recognition with useless chatter. You can also add script marks manually if you prefer by navigating to the appropriate point in your shot, highlighting the take on your script and the appropriate line of dialogue, and clicking “Add script mark.” I am currently trying to find the right balance of harnessing the power of ScriptSync’s voice recognition and adding marks exactly where I want them.

Ultimately, I think ScriptSync is probably most useful for dialogue-heavy productions that stick to the script most of the time. However, Media Composer’s script functions are flexible enough to cater to the needs of any production with dialogue. A possible use for reality shows and documentaries could be linking up interviews with their typed transcripts, allowing for instant cueing by an editor.

I’m still in the early stages of experimentation with script-based editing, but I’ve already decided to adopt the workflow for all my script-based projects. It lets me do more work in a shorter amount of time, allowing me to assign virtually all of my brain power to how to make the best edit, rather than trying to find a particular spot in the raw footage. As en editor working alone, it can be cumbersome to prepare the script before you start to edit, but if you have the luxury of having an assistant, all the time-consuming work can get done for you!

Here is a list of features that I hope already exist and I just haven’t found yet. If you know the secrets to any of them, please post in the comments. If they don’t exist yet, here’s hoping that Avid’s got updates planned for the near future.

more importable file formats for scripts that preserve all formatting
full text-based script editing within Media Composer, with Microsoft Word-like functions for highlighting and adding notes
the ability to pre-set where you want marks to be placed before initiating ScriptSync (Avid tends to overdo it if a line of dialogue takes up more than one line of the script)
the ability to slide marks through a clip to adjust them, rather than deleting and resetting them
commands to jump to the next or previous script mark (like jumping between locators)
the ability to load a clip from your script without automatically setting an in-point by double-clicking the thumbnail
the option to set a different thumbnail on the script than exists in the bin (also, support for 16×9 thumbnails would be nice)
an option to allow the thumbnails to “travel with you” as you scroll down the script, so you don’t have to drag them all down en masse as you progress
the ability to assign different characters in the script to different mic channels

Next time you’ve got a little extra time for experimentation, give script-based editing a try and see what you think. You may fall in love with it and never look back! If you want to read more about script-based editing, check out Avid’s ScriptSync page (with useful video tutorials) and an article by television comedy editor Robert Bramwell in the Editors Guild Magazine.

Tagged: lined script, Nexidia, Robert Bramwell, script marks, script-based editing, ScriptSync, voice recognition

Final Cut Studio 3 and Avid feature requests

Tim — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 00:54:10 +0000

Yesterday Apple released their first update to Final Cut Studio in over 2 years, and I am thrilled! Why, you may ask, do I care about the latest iteration of Final Cut when I haven’t used FCP in over 3 years? The answer: competition. Every substantial release of a non-linear editing application raises the bar for each of its peers, forcing them to consider integrating the better features of competing products and innovate to produce stellar new features that will hopefully tip the scales in their favor next time an editor or post house is looking to make a major software purchase. Without the NLE “arms race” Media Composer wouldn’t be blessed with the “Select All to the Right” feature (which I use practically all the time now), and Apple would not have included a large timecode window, color-coded markers that automatically ripple through the timeline, an equivalent to the “Remove Match Frame Edits” command, and an offline HD codec in their latest version of Final Cut (see the complete list of new features here).

There seem to be a lot of small tweaks in the new Final Cut Pro release that improve the editing process (those of you that use FCP would know far better than I which ones editors are most excited about), but the one that seems most revolutionary to me is background exporting. You can start a QuickTime export of your sequence, and then continue editing it while it exports! As an Avid assistant editor who is used to starting a humongous export and then moving to another edit bay or twiddling my thumbs for two hours, this feature would be HUGE! Avid, the ball is in your court. And while you’re at it, why don’t you add background saves, background imports (with more detailed progress windows indicating the overall status of the batch), and the ability to work in bins while a sequence is playing. You know what? I’m feeling another Avid feature requests post. In addition to the requests I made last year (some of which made it into Media Composer 3), here’s a list of new features I would kill for.

1. Undo last keystroke/mouseclick.

This would solve a bunch of problems at once. I hate it when I’m scrolling through a giant timeline and accidentally hit the “Go to Start” or “Go to End” keys (I use “Page Up” and “Page Down” for timeline zooming) and forget where I was parked. I also hate it when I’m editing clip names in a bin and hit Enter to go to the next clip, but inadvertently hit “\” at the same time, erasing that clip’s entire name. If we can undo editing commands, why can’t we undo a single mouseclick or keystroke as well, no matter what it was?

2. More robust options for clip renaming.

I’d love an easier way to get out of clip renaming mode in a bin, since Enter takes you to the next clip and any other key adds to the name. I also hate that if you click back in your timeline, your bin stays in rename mode. If there were a toggle setting to allow Enter to set the clip name and exit renaming mode, then I could avoid accidental renames much more easily.

3. A customizable incremental duration for jumping around the timeline.

The fact that Avid remembers how much time you’ve jumped forward or back using the keypad (and will continue that duration every time you press Enter) is brilliant and revolutionary. But imagine if you could assign a specific duration to any key to automate the process even further. Every time I prep a sequence for output, I go to the first frame of my sequence (01;00;00;00), add 15 seconds of filler at the start (that only takes one keystroke), and then type in “-10;00″ and “Enter” to jump back 10 seconds to add my slate at 00;59;50;00. Imagine if I could just jump back 10 seconds (or any other duration I choose in the Settings) with the press of a button, regardless of the duration of my last jump.

4. Close bins without saving.

The implementation of this could get a little complicated with the AutoSave feature, but I’d love to be able to undo the changes I made to a bin simply by closing and reopening it. Anyone who has ever forced Avid to crash after accidentally deleting an important sequence so as not to save the changes knows what I’m talking about.

5. “Multigroup this sequence.”

Once you’ve laid out all your clips into a sequence and synced them, there is a whole slew of steps to make a multigroup that takes forever (up to several hours if you have a ton of cameras and a lot of clips). See my popular post on multigrouping for the detailed tutorial. Since all of the mental work is done at that point, why can’t Avid just make a multigroup from that sequence? If multigrouping were a breeze, shows might not have to hire as many assists (which could ultimately be bad for us), but it would still save us a lot of time and frustration. The “Add Edits And Auxiliary Timecode And Make Subclips” routine is so tedious, you’d think by now Avid would have found a way to simplify it, especially considering how many multicamera shows use their software. The show I’m currently working on even forced their cameramen to never stop recording so that there are fewer clips to have to group. Now that is a symptom of inefficiency.

6. Open last bin.

How many times have I closed a bin and then realized I need it open again right away, yet I can’t remember where in the project it is located? One way to solve that is to go into “Flat View” and find the bin by name, but it still takes time. If I could open the bin with one keystroke (or perhaps even better, have a folder of “Recently Opened Bins” at the bottom of the project, similar to the “Unity Bins” folder), that would save me a lot of time.

7. Allow matchframing into titles.

Not quite sure why this isn’t possible (I’m sure there’s a good reason), but there’s no easy way to load a title from your timeline into your Source monitor and cut it into your sequence somewhere else. You have to copy and paste, which is clumsy and not very useful if you’re trying to create a title with a new duration and different keyframes somewhere else in your sequence.

8. Better “Focus” options.

The focus button would be incredibly useful if there were more options than just centering the cursor and zooming somewhat indiscriminately. If you could pre-set the amount of zoom (including none at all) and/or the new placement of the cursor (I often want it at the far left of my timeline rather than the middle), that would make it a much stronger tool. For now, I often tap the keys I’ve assigned to “More Detail” and “Less Detail” rapidly in succession to center my playhead without changing the zoom.

9. Timeline zoom presets.

There are certain times I want to be zoomed in on my sequence a specific amount. It’s easy when you want to see the whole sequence (Just click “Show Entire Sequence” in the timeline options menu) but not so easy otherwise. If there were zoom options that you could map to specific keys that represented various levels of zoom, you could instantly jump to a tighter zoom for more detailed editing, then jump back to your original view with one click.

Hopefully someone from Avid reads this post and takes these ideas into consideration. I know absolutely nothing about computer programming, but I would imagine that a bunch of these would be pretty easy to implement. With the “New Thinking” philosophy now well over a year old and a new version of FCP to compete with, here’s hoping that Avid continues the one-upmanship in their next release. Maybe someday we’ll have a “Make this edit work better” button. One can only dream…

Tagged: competition, Final Cut Studio, new features

April Fools Jokes for Editors

Tim — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:29:20 +0000

Whenever I see a producer freaking out about a piece of missing footage or an editor stressing about a deadline, I always remind myself that in the grand scheme of things what we do for a living is ultimately of little importance in the world as a whole. We’re not curing cancer, we’re not feeding homeless children, we’re not lobbying for legislation that will transform the health care system for millions of Americans. We simply make entertainment, and sometimes it’s easy to forget that.

That being said, I think it’s important to let loose every once in a while and not take our jobs too seriously. With April Fools Day coming up tomorrow, here are a few practical jokes to bring smiles to the faces of your coworkers. Just make sure they don’t have an impending producer screening or network output, or you may find that the joke’s on you. Without further ado, I present to you – April Fools Jokes for Editors.

Change his color scheme to something embarrassing or impractical – all pink or all light blue come to mind. You can even go with all black so that none of the buttons are readable.
Remap his keyboard. You can either go crazy with a lot of major changes, or be more subtle and see how long it takes him to figure out what’s wrong. For instance, switch the “J” and “L” keys and “I” and “O” keys and watch him struggle to complete a single edit.
Replace an important music track with something humorous in the editor’s timeline. Make sure you change the clip name to match the original track. What better way to kill the emotional impact of a serious love scene than “Achy Breaky Heart” unexpectedly blasting in the background.
Along the same lines, unplug the Avid connection to the mixer board and replace it with a hidden iPod playing an embarrassing song on repeat. When the editor raises the Avid sliders to listen to his cut, he’ll hear the Jonas Brothers instead.
Unlink a frequently used master clip, and redigitize it with ridiculous footage. Then every time in the editor’s sequence that he cuts to that closeup of the subject’s face, he will instead see this or this.
When he goes to take a break near the end of the day, lock his edit bay door and watch him try to break in to get his stuff and go home.
Create a fake “.lck” file for every one of the editor’s work bins so he has to create all new bins to save his work.
Randomly change a few lower-thirds throughout the editor’s cut to say absurd things. For instance, “Jay Nathanson, CEO of American Mutual Banking” can become “Jay Nathanson, Inventor of the Solar Powered Flashlight” or “Jay Nathanson, Spokesperson for Adult Bedwetters of America.”
Change the editor’s computer name so that every bin he opens on the Unity will say something embarrassing next to it. If his name is Frank, change his computer name to “Frank sucks” and watch the other editors snicker. Any editor who was never an assistant may not even know how to change this back!
Replace voiceover narration with your own commentary.
Put a cheesy transition (star wipes, vertical blinds, etc.) between every shot. The “Apply to all transitions in-to-out” checkbox makes this a breeze.
Cut in tone media at strategic places in the editor’s cut, along the lines of Jimmy Kimmel’s “Unnecessary Censorship.”

Have fun and don’t go too crazy!

The following commands were used in the above screen shot to spell “April Fools,” if you feel inclined to do so yourself.

1. Add Page (Script menu)
2. Render In/Out
3. Load Filler
4. Record
5. Record
6. Loop Selected
7-15. Hardware

Tagged: April Fools

Real-World Editing Situations: Applying Your Knowledge

Tim — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 00:09:00 +0000

I don’t usually write about the individual projects I work on, but I thought I’d take a page from Shane Ross‘s playbook and do a little first-person story-telling for once. I wanted to share a real-world challenge that I faced recently on my current show and how I used my knowledge of Avid software to pinpoint the root of the problem and fix it. It’s situations like these where you really have to think on your feet; because of the unique nature of the problem, no manual or editing class can prepare you for what course of action to take. You simply have to extrapolate your knowledge of the program and use all of the tools at your disposal. Imagine an artist with a giant rectangular block of granite in front of him – somewhere in there lies the beautiful statue that is pictured in his head, and it’s his job to find it. Sure, it’s possible to use a single chisel and hammer to hack away until something resembling a human figure appears, but with careful planning, a variety of specialized tools, and a delicate hand, the goal he strives for is much more likely to be attained.

But I digress. Here is the problem I faced, and here’s how I went about solving it. As always, I’m using an Avid system. You may find this extremely boring and/or over your head, but if you’re an editing geek like me it might be a useful opportunity to hear about some real-world problem-solving.

Background:

An episode of our network show has been locked exactly to time. The other assistants and I have formatted everything to the proper online specifications, made EDL’s and OMF’s for the audio mixer, delivered the Avid bin to the online Symphony editor, and output split-track chase tapes for both facilities. A couple days later, the producers decide they want to add a 7-second shot at the end of the show. This necessitates a 7-second extraction somewhere else in the show. So they task the editor with making the changes and delivering them to us (the assistants) for distribution to the online and mixing facilities, which have already started working on the episode. This makes re-delivering the entire show out of the realm of possibility. I am given two sub-sequences from the master sequence – one of the section with contracted time, and one of the last minute of the show with the extra 7 seconds. Both changes occur in the final act of the show.

Problem #1:

The master timecodes of the subsequences do not match my sequence master timecode from the previously locked version. Where do I cut them in?

Solution:

The editor must have been working from a sequence before it was properly formatted to time. Luckily for me, he included some handles on his changes, so the first and last shots correspond exactly with the previously locked version. I first load a copy of the previously locked sequence in the record monitor, then load the changes into the source monitor and park the playhead on the first frame. I then reverse-matchframe, and the playhead in the timeline jumps directly to the corresponding frame in the sequence. In order to make sure I’m at the correct instance of the clip (if it’s used more than once), I gang the two sequences together and scrub through them slowly. This allows me to evaluate exactly what has changed, as the source monitor displays the new version and the record monitor displays the old version. So I’ve located where the changes should be cut in. Problem #1 solved.

Problem #2:

If there were merely a swapped shot or two and no time was changed, we could simply overwrite the old version with the new version. However, 7 seconds has to come out of there somewhere. How do we pull out the correct amount of time and still have a seamless show?

Solution:

When I reverse-matchframe from the first frame of the changes, I set an in-point on that frame of the original sequence. Instead of cutting in the changes solely based on that inpoint, I also reverse-matchframe the last frame of the changes (remember, the first and last shots were left unchanged). This is where I want to set my out-point in the record monitor. So now, if I mark an in-to-0ut on the entire sequence in the source monitor, I will have the section to add marked correctly in the source monitor and the section to be replaced marked correctly in the record monitor. It is important to note that THESE SECTIONS HAVE DIFFERENT DURATIONS. This is how the 7 seconds will be taken out. I merely have to extract (not lift) the section out of the record monitor and splice in (not overwrite) the source material starting at that exact spot. There were some audio clips that were split by the splice, but I can simply set an in and out around the inserted changes and “Remove Match Frame Edits” and voila, there’s no evidence I ever made a change. Problem #2 solved.

Problem #3:

So after adding the 7-second shot at the end of the show to balance out the time I just removed earlier in the sequence, I discover that we’re coming up 10 frames short on our running time. After double-checking everything I did and playing through the changed sections, I decide that the error was not on my end. Turns out the editor gave me changes that were not exactly to time. How and where do I add the necessary time while minimizing the disruption to the online edit and mix, which are already in full swing? Not to mention the fact that content cannot drastically change, and music must remain relatively seamless. Keep in mind it is midnight, and the editor has already gone home and the changes definitely need to be implemented tonight!

Solution:

My first thought is to add time in one of the changed sections – since these sections are different anyway, it won’t matter to the online or the mix to change them a little more – they’ll still get an insert of just that section. Normally, that would be the way to go. However, in this case I decide to go talk to the online assistant editor, who fortunately happens to work under the same roof, to see how he wants to deal with the problem. He informs me that the online editor already received the changes directly from the editor and cut them in, and his show is exactly to time!

Problem #4:

How is the online sequence correct while mine is incorrect, and where is the discrepancy?

Solution:

I get the online assist to subsequence the entire final act of the show, where all the changes take place, and deliver the bin to me on a Flashdrive. I load it into my Avid (the hi-rez media is offline, of course, but I just need to use the unlinked sequence to do my sleuthing) and gang it with my sequence, starting on the first frame of the act. Jumping through the act shot by shot (with my version and the online version in perfect sync), I eventually discover a shot that is 10 frames longer in the online edit than in the changes the editor gave me. Now everything begins to make sense. Turns out the editor and online editor made the changes directly in the online edit and then tried to re-create the changes in the offline edit for me and missed extending that one shot. All I have to do is trim that shot out for 10 more frames, and everything is perfectly in sync. Problems #1-4 solved, and I can finally make accurate OMF’s, EDL’s, and chase tapes of the changes for the mixer.

So after several hours of intense problem-solving, everything is back to normal and the show goes on as if nothing ever happened. Much like a referee, an assistant editor is invisible when they’re doing a good job and the fall guy when they make one mistake. All in a day’s work, right? That’s why they pay us the “big bucks.”

Tagged: gang, Little Frog in Hi Def, reverse matchframe, trim

The option key is your friend

Tim — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:20:09 +0000

Most non-linear editors know that the secret to an efficient workflow is to use keyboard shortcuts for your most frequently used editing functions, as opposed to mouse clicks. What many intermediate Avid editors do not know, however, is that one extra keystroke gives you access to a slew of commands that you won’t see in any menus or on any buttons. Try holding down the “Option” key (“Alt” in Windows) while you do various functions and see what happens. You can drop the “Add Option Key” command from the command palette onto any of your composer or timeline buttons so that when clicked it will always perform the function as if you’re simultaneously pressing the option key. I use this all the time with the “Copy” command. Here are a few shortcuts that I’ve discovered.

New functions:

Option + Add Locator = bring up Locator popup window
Option + any track selector key = monitor track
Option + Mark Clip = mark to nearest edits, ignoring track selectors
Option + Trim Mode = return to most recent trim
Option + Matchframe = match back without changing marks in source
Option + Add keyframe = remove selected keyframes
Option + Drag keyframe = moves keyframe horizontally
Option + Lift/Extract/Copy = performs function and puts contents into Source monitor
Option + Add edit = Adds edits only in filler, ignoring track selectors
Option + Change workspace = change workspaces without opening or closing any tools
Option + Motion Effect/Fit to Fill/Subclip/etc. = toggle bin destination prompt
Option + Double-click item in bin = open item in pop-up window

Related functions:

Media Composer will perform a specific related function when you hold down Option for the following commands. Some work in reverse as well.

Move 1 frame / Move 10 frames
Move 10 frames / Move 1 field
Go to in or out / Set in or out
Play Loop / Audio Loop Play
Play / Play to Out

Here is a very comprehensive list of keyboard shortcuts on Moviola’s web site. Feel free to add your own personal favorites in the comments below.

Tagged: Alt, modifiers, Moviola, Option

Post production lingo quiz!

Tim — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 07:33:24 +0000

Ladies and gentlemen, dust off your keyboard and calibrate your mouse. It’s time for a “View from the Cutting Room Floor” pop quiz.

Like the Native American windtalkers in World War II, post production professionals often speak in code only intelligible to other members of our “tribe.” To evaluate your level of submersion into television post culture, define the following terms by picking the multiple choice answer that is most appropriate to the profession.

1. Supertease

The flashy montage at the beginning of a reality show (usually in the first episode) that informs the viewer of the premise of the show and what to expect from the rest of the season
A men’s hair product that was forced out of business by Vitalis in the 1950’s
The guy or girl in high school that flirted with you all the time but always had “other plans” on Friday and Saturday night

2. Cue

The wooden pole you use to poke the white billiard ball
A piece of music added to a show in post production
The 17^th letter of the alphabet

3. Sting

A brief sound effect or music cue that is used to transition between scenes or accentuate a particular moment
A singer famous for practicing tantric sex and advising people not to turn on red lights
The painful reminder that bees are not to be messed with

4. Bay

Manny Ramirez’s replacement on the Boston Red Sox
a body of water, often cold and dark, which shellfish call their home and leave only for the purposes of sustenance and mating
a secluded room, often cold and dark, which editors call their home and leave only for the purposes of sustenance and mating

5. Online

The high-resolution edit (usually performed on an expensive finishing system) to finalize the color correction, titles, and effects of a show before it airs
Where Philippe Petit finds himself in James Marsh’s new documentary “Man on Wire”
What an editor is usually doing on his laptop instead of working when the executive producer or post supervisor peeks into his bay.

6. Layback

How Snoop Dogg feels when he’s got his mind on his money and his money on his mind
What you wish you could do on the sofa in your bay after lunch
The process of re-recording the final sound mix to your high resolution master tape, after both audio and video have undergone separate finishing processes

7. B-roll

The Honor Roll’s slightly less prestigious relative
The Coffee Bean’s newest pastry, available in chocolate or almond varieties
Footage that is not story specific and can be used in a variety of situations in multiple shows (for example: sunsets, traffic, building exteriors, people walking down the street, etc.)

8. Lower third

If you finished in this portion of your graduating class, you are more suited to running for President of the United States on the Republican ticket than being an editor
A graphic near the bottom of the screen (also called a chyron), often used to identify a person or place
The part of an editor’s body most likely to fall asleep after 14 hours straight in an Aeron chair

9. In sync

A band you pretend to hate but secretly sing along with in your car when you think no one is watching
The perfect harmony between audio and video that prevents your show from looking like a poorly dubbed Japanese film
The place you wash your hands after using the restroom

10. Air date

The only thing (besides money) preventing your three-month job from turning into a six-month job
The rare day that you can actually breathe in the city of Los Angeles without coughing
A candlelight dinner with Michael Jordan

To read the answers below and determine your score, simply flip your computer monitor upside down.

Answers:

Scoring:

0-3 points: You’re either drunk or asleep. Seriously, the quiz was not that hard.

4-7 points: Do you even own a TV?

8-10 points: Congratulations. Either you work in the industry, or you cheated. Both are equally dishonorable.

Tagged: Aeron chair, air date, b-roll, chyron, Coffee Bean, editing bay, layback, lower third, Man on Wire, Michael Jordan, music cue, online edit, Philippe Petit, quiz, Snoop Dogg, sting, supertease, sync, windtalkers

“Stacking” commands in Avid Media Composer

Tim — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 06:00:15 +0000

Once you’ve been working on Avid for awhile, you begin to internalize the steps needed to perform a certain series of actions. Eventually, you will find yourself thinking faster than the Avid can keep up, especially when working on a slow machine. It can be frustrating to hit a button, wait several seconds, and then press the next button.

Fortunately, Avid is designed to remember a series of commands, even as it is performing another function. This allows you to press keys as fast as you can think of them while the computer does something else.

For example, when I’m tweaking an effect in Effect Mode, once I start the render, I immediately hit the “Source/Record Editing” key, click on a spot prior to the effect in my timeline, and hit “Play”. While I’m checking my e-mail, Avid will finish rendering the effect, jump back to the appropriate place in the timeline, and begin playing, which cues me to start paying attention to make sure the effect plays correctly.

Test out your own keystroke combinations, and save yourself some valuable e-mailing/texting/reading time!

Create your own real-time Avid timecode effect

Tim — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 07:22:38 +0000

One of the most talked-about features of the new Avid Media Composer 3.0 is its ability to create real-time timecode burn-ins with no rendering necessary. For those of you still dealing with outrageous render times on an ancient Meridien system, I feel your pain. One of my fellow assistants recently introduced me to a nifty way to create a real-time timecode effect that takes a little while to set up but can save you countless hours of time down the road. It is most useful for tracking the running time of a sequence (as opposed to source timecode), since it relies on re-using the same timecode each time. As my example, I will be working in a 30i NTSC project with drop-frame timecode, but the steps can be modified easily based on the needs of your project. Ready? Here we go.

Create a sequence of whatever length you want your timecode source to be. You want to make sure you will always have enough timecode to cover all of your material, so overestimate a little bit, but keep in mind that the longer the effect is, the more resources it will consume (your disk space and your precious spare time). I always start my outputs at hour one (01;00;00;00), with a slate and some black beforehand, so I will start my timecode at 00;59;30;00. I’m working on an hour-long show (42:50 of content), so I shouldn’t have any outputs that pass hour two (02;00;00;00).
Drop a timecode effect into V1 and set it to start at 00;59;30;00. Position it wherever you want using the “X” and “Y” coordinates; if you use the following coordinates (in an NTSC project), it will be placed in the center of the frame horizontally, at the bottom of the standard title safe boundary: (-190, 335). You can move it around later, but might as well set it to where you will usually want it, for simplicity’s sake.

Export a Quicktime movie of your sequence, using whatever settings you desire. You can decrease the frame size or increase the compression of your movie to save time and disk space, or you can export “Same as source” for the highest possible quality. (Alternatively, you can output to tape if you are short on disk space.)

Make yourself a sandwich, do your laundry, or go for a jog.
Once your movie file has been created (anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 hours later), import it back into Media Composer as its own master clip. (If you made a tape instead, simply capture it as you would a normal source tape.)

Create a new sequence consisting of the entire imported clip. Now add a Picture-in-Picture effect onto the clip, and set the parameters to crop the image to the region containing the timecode.

You can now lay this track (including both the timecode master clip and its overlying PIP effect) into the topmost layer of any sequence to superimpose the timecode effect, and you won’t have to render a thing! You can even move the window around the screen at will, using the PIP effect parameters. I like to move the timecode to the top of the title safe boundary every time there’s a lower-third that’s obstructed. It’s as simple as adding an edit and changing the PIP parameters (“V Pos” under the “Position” heading).

While you may not be able to create a real-time timecode burn-in with the ease and flexibility of the newest version of Media Composer, this handy shortcut could save you a boatload of time and make that finicky little Horita box sitting on your desk obsolete.