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Filed under: Editing •Post Production •Software •Tips •Training •

More Avid Media Composer for the Final Cut Pro Editor

Continuing on an article in the last Pro Video Coalition newsletter, The Basics of Avid Media Composer for a Final Cut Pro Editor, this article will look at a number of other functions and how they differ from Final Cut Pro to Media Composer. One of the main reasons why I’m writing these articles is that Avid offers a free, full-featured demo of Avid Media Composer 4 available for download. When I wrote the first piece that demo was only for 14 days. They have since upped the time for this trial to 30 days. That’s great as it brings this demo in line with most free demos and even affords enough time to try to learn the in’s and out’s of the application a little bit better any maybe even use it on a real job.

Last time I looked at a broad overview of Avid Media Composer and it’s main features. This time I’ll talk about more specific features. Since the first article was written Avid has updated Media Composer to version 4.0. I haven’t upgraded yet so this article was written under version 3.5.

The Project Window, Bins and Bin Column Layouts

The Avid Project main project window

Bins are the backbone of a well organized edit project. The more media you stuff into an edit project the more bins you might need. In FCP, bins look like folders and that’s pretty much what they are, folders where you can organize stuff within the project. I never understood why FCP calls them bins when they look like folders. In Avid you have both bins and folders. Creating a new bin creates a little icon that looks like a it has little film strips contained inside. The origin of calling it a bin comes from the days of cutting film when cutting rooms had big, physical bins where editors would store strips and trims of film. All media imported into Avid and sequences created must be stored in a bin. I’ve never encountered anything that can reside in the “top” level of an Avid project other than bins, folders, scripts and a trash can icon that appears if you delete an item from the main project window. (Scripts, FYI, are actual text-based scripts for using with Avid’s script based editing and ScriptSync function) Folders can be created as a way to organize bins.

The Avid project window Fast Menu

Go under the project Fast Menu (or Hamburger Menu as many call it since it looks like a hamburger) and choose New Folder. Bins and scripts can then be organized into those folders. There’s also a function called called a Flat View under the Project Fast Menu as well that shows the Project without Folders. It’s a fast way to see all of your bins without having to dig through a lot of folders. In the above image of the Project Window the Other Bins folder is in italics because I opened that bin from another project using the File > Open Bin command.

One handy screen organization operation in FCP is opening a bin so the tabs dock across the top of the Browser window. If you option+double click a bin in FCP it automatically opens as a “docked” tab or you can drag a bin into the dock by dragging its tab. The Avid equivalent of this kind of organization is the Super Bin. Super Bin has to be turned on in the Bin Settings by checking the Enable Super Bin button:

Normally to open a bin you double click on the bin icon. With SuperBin enabled a single click on a bin and it will open it as a SuperBin. Each single click on a bin after that will open those bins into the same bin window. You can toggle through the different SuperBins by clicking on the new SuperBin icon in the top left corner and toggling the different bins from the pulldown menu:

A SuperBin is also identified with the SuperBin name in the window’s title bar. The Super Bin is handy when screen real-estate is at a premium, say when working on a laptop.

Once an Avid bin is open you have very similar column headings to those that a bin in FCP will have. I’ve always thought that FCP has a very cumbersome way of selecting the columns you want to display: Right+click on a column heading in FCP and you can toggle headings on by selecting show-heading and then hide a column one at a time by using the hide column option.

In Avid you access the Headings… menu from under the bin Fast Menu. You must be in the Text display mode of a bin to change and customize column headings. These different modes are selected via tabs at the top of a bin and include Brief for a few set columns, Text for customizing and saving columns, Frame for an icon display and Script for an list-like icon display that includes information and a place to take notes on each clip :

Once selecting Headings you get the Bin Column Selection pop-up menu where you can select multiple columns at once:

Saving a particular column layout is handled with the save menu in the lower left corner. If no heading has been chosen then it will probably have Untitled as the title. Click and Save As… and name the chosen layout.

Choose Save As… to save custom bin headings

These different saved layouts can then be accessed with the same menu. The saved layouts are managed back in the Avid settings tab where they can be renamed and deleted. You can also make a custom column by just clicking in an empty space and the end of the headings, where you will get a cursor. Just type a name and then there’s a new, custom column. To sort by a column, click on the column heading (it will turn blue) and choose Bin > Sort, or hit command+e on the keyboard. Command+option+e will reverse the sort.

Consolidating Media

One operation that is often needed is the transcoding, consolidating and moving of editing projects. This is accomplished in FCP with the Media Manager. Early versions of the Media Manager were nicknamed the Media Mangler as the operation often ended up with incomplete projects and missing files. The Avid equivalent is the Clip > Consolidate/Transcode menu item. Like FCP this function gives an editor the ability to move a project and consolidate media from any number of media drives on to one single drive. You can choose handle length, delete and skip media files and convert audio in the process.

The Consolidate window making a copy of 1 edit sequence

There’s also the option to transcode media files from one format into another, handy for creating an offline, low-resolution version of a job. Like the Media Manager in FCP, you can select any combination of sequences, master clips, subclips, graphics, whatever, in a bin and consolidate just what is needed. Once the operation is complete Avid creates a new bin with clips linked to the new media.

The Transcode option selected

The FCP Media Manager is also the tool where an editor can create an offline version of an edit sequence for recapture from tape for an online session. In Avid this is called decomposing a sequence. This is done via the Clip > Decompose… menu:

There you will choose the amount of handles you want for each clip, clip types and if you want this operation performed only on offline media. In FCP you will be asked to specify the format when recompressing or creating an offline version of the sequence via Media Manager but in Avid you won’t as you choose the desired format upon capture.

Mixing Formants in a Timeline

One advantage that FCP has long had over Media Composer is its ability to mix different formats, resolutions and frame rates in a single timeline. In FCP, format specifics are set on a timeline basis. In Avid it’s on a project basis. While Avid has had the ability to mix resolutions for some time Avid has finally added the ability to mix frames rates as well with the introduction of the Mix and Match timeline in version 4.0. Anyone who has worked with Avid for any length of time has experienced the frustration of trying to load a clip from a bin, often times just to view and not even for the edit, only to have Avid tell you it can’t load the clip into the Source monitor because the frame rate doesn’t match the project. FCP’s ability to do this has always been a bit of a blessing and a curse. A blessing in that you can mix and match at will but a curse because it often meant little to no planning for formats on a shoot. And FCP’s final output of mixed frame rates was often less than perfect with improper pulldown added or frames removed in such a way that the footage wasn’t very usable. To be fair, changing frame rates isn’t the easiest thing in the world but Avid’s attempt with version 4 of Media Composer is apparently getting good reviews. I haven’t used this new feature as of yet but it is a very welcome addition. Here’s a video on the feature from Avid, on You Tube:

Next up: the Timecode Window, BITC, and modifying clips

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Scott, I just wanted to let you know that these Avid for FCP Editors articles are by far my favorite. Keep up the good work.

Posted by Jon Chappell  on  12/28  at  10:13 PM

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