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Editing DV on Avid Xpress DV v3.0

Jul 1, 2002 12:00 PM, By Steve Mullen

This workflow tutorial for DV shooters examines new features in version 3.0.

Unless you've been hiding in a cave for the last nine months, you know that Avid and Apple are waging a war for the hearts and dollars of DV shooters with their version 3 releases. It's not surprising that the flag both marketing groups are waving has the word “realtime” on it — it is the easiest feature to trumpet.

Having recently reviewed Xpress DV version 2.0 (page 75, December 2001), I decided to evaluate version 3.0 from the perspective of the largest market for both Final Cut Pro and Xpress DV. Folks in this market shoot DV, are more likely to on-line 24p miniDV than off-line edit 35mm film, and “finish” on their own computer. For these DV shooters, this article can also be used as a workflow-focused tutorial.

Capture and Bin Setup

Version 3 allows instant selection from five predefined, but alterable, window/tool arrangements (Toolsets) on your RGB monitor(s): Basic, Source/Record Editing, Effects Editing, Audio Editing, and Recording. After creating a New Project, I switched to the Recording Toolset. Before capturing, I created a Text-style Bin named for the tape. To capture each tape, I selected V, A1, A2, and TC capture, and clicked Record.

An hour later, the tape contents were stored on disk as a clip. After selecting this clip, I issued the (new in v3) DV Scene Extraction command. Within 30 seconds I was rewarded with a Bin full of subclips — each holding a segment of video recorded between each press of the camcorder's trigger button. Xpress DV's Scene Extraction capability lets you skip pages of Avid documentation devoted to tape logging and batch capture.

After all tapes were captured, I selected the Basic Toolset and created a Frame-style (image icon) Bin for each “scene” or “topic” I needed for my video shot at the Hindu Thaipusam festival held outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The SuperBin introduced in version 3 made it easy to manage multiple Bins.

Next I began disk-based logging by sequentially opening each tape Bin. One by one, I double-clicked every subclip into the Source monitor, where I trimmed away garbage at its head and tail. With Xpress DV, you typically fine trim in the Timeline, not the Source monitor. After trimming, I Alt-clicked the MakeSubclip button and selected the target (scene or topic) Bin from the pop-up list. When multiple shots existed within a clip, I defined each and sent it to an appropriate Bin.

When all shots had been distributed, I switched to the Source/Record Toolset. I created a Frame-style Bin to hold all sequences. After creating a New Sequence in this Bin, I opened a blank Timeline by double-clicking its icon.

On the Timeline

I assembled sequences by opening scene and topic Bins and dragging clips to the end of the Timeline. Avid should support a PowerPoint-like “slide sorting” capability so storyboards would be easy to create within a Bin. And it would be useful if the SuperBin window had a Splice-in button so selected clips could be sent to the Timeline by a single click.

Once a new sequence had been assembled, I began to edit it by deleting, moving, and trimming clips. Xpress DV provides four editing modes: Non-segment (default when you open a sequence), Segment: Extract/Splice-in (Timeline ripple), Segment: Lift/Overwrite (no Timeline ripple), and Trim. At this stage of my workflow, I entered Extract/Splice-in mode by clicking the yellow Segment: Extract/Splice-in button.

Avid provides several ways to select clips. I prefer to select clips by a left-to-right lasso for two reasons. First, you typically locate a clip using the mouse to rapidly move through the Timeline. Secondly, a lasso/marquee is a labor-saving, single-step process. Unfortunately, Avid did not correctly implement lasso operation. Because an Avid lasso must begin outside the Timeline tracks, when a Timeline has many tracks, the lasso often nets more clips than wanted. (A work-around is to use Avid's click and shift-click clip selection method.)

Audio clips captured with video must be included within a selection because Xpress DV, unlike Adobe Premiere, does not lock audio and video together. Once selected, clips can be ripple-deleted by pressing Delete — or ripple-moved by dragging.

Xpress DV offers a rapid way to work through a Timeline trimming each clip. Use the JKL keys to shuttle to the point where a clip should begin. Press “T O X” to delete the unwanted “top” prior to this point. Next, use JKL to locate where the clip should end and press “T I X” to delete the unwanted “tail” after this point. (Interestingly, Avid's NewsCutter group will not allow the Xpress group to use its Top and Tail functions.)

What happens if you right-to-left lasso cut points? Xpress DV enters Trim mode with the cut points selected. Version 3 has more Media Composer functionality, and the new Source and Recorder monitors make Trim mode more efficient.

If you lasso the cut point on either end of a clip, the outgoing clip appears in the left monitor while the incoming clip appears in the right monitor. When Trim mode is entered, trimming affects both sides equally (dual-roller submode), which keeps duration constant. To select one side to trim (single-roller submode), click the right or left monitor. You trim by dragging the roller in the Timeline.

Alternately, click LoopPlay and you can dynamically trim by watching or listening to the cut. As the loop plays, nudge the cut until it's exactly right. Nudge by pressing the <<, <, >, and >> keys. Pressing Spacebar stops looping. L-cuts can be made by lassoing a video or audio cut point. To exit Trim mode, press Esc or click the TrimMode button.

To quickly add a dissolve after trimming, trim the outgoing clip earlier and the incoming clip later by half the transition's duration. Then click the QuickTransition button, enter the transition's duration, and click Add. Later, if necessary, by using the Effects Editing Toolset you can drag-and-drop a different video transition over the dissolve. Then adjust transition parameters using the Effects Editor. If you lasso cut points on both ends of a clip, the Source and Record monitors divide into two displays each. Now you can “slip” or “slide” clips until the trim is perfect. (For a Slide, hold Shift+Alt as you lasso.)

When content in the V1, A1, and A2 tracks flows well, you can add cutaways, composites, keys, graphics, audio clips, and titles into the Timeline using three-point editing. Switch to Segment: Lift/Overwrite (non-ripple) mode by clicking the red Segment: Lift/Overwrite button.

To add a clip to the Timeline, select only the tracks to receive video and/or audio. Now, set In- and/or Out-points in the Time-line. Next, load the clip into the Source monitor, then set In- and/or Out-points. Click the red Overwrite or Fit-to-Fill button to place the clip in the Timeline. To remove and move clips in Segment: Lift/Overwrite mode, after lassoing, non-ripple remove by pressing Delete — or non-ripple move by dragging.

To ripple-remove a clip without destroying the downstream sync between other clips, first lasso the clip to be removed. Next press T, which marks Timeline In- and Out-points. Then activate all tracks and press X (Extract) to remove the clip. This uses Avid's third clip selection method, where a “column” is defined in the Timeline by In- and Out-points. By then activating the tracks, clips are selected. Now you can Extract (ripple) or Lift (non-ripple) remove clips by pressing X or Z respectively.

As you may sense, Xpress DV lacks an easy, consistent selection technique. Which selection method can be used is dependent on the editing mode. And the selection method determines what can be selected and how selected objects can be treated. Avid's steep learning curve is primarily due to inconsistent Timeline operation, and not because it offers more capability than other NLE systems.

Filters, Effects, and Audio

To add video filters, which Avid calls Segment Effects, use the Effects Editing Toolset. Simply drag an effect onto a clip. To delete a filter, select it and click the RemoveEffect button.

If you need title rolls, you'll need to use Boris Graffiti (bundled) because Xpress DV lacks this function. To super in and out a title, select only the title's track, place the blue Position Indicator over the title, and click the FadeEffect (i.e., Fade-an-Effect) button. Now enter the super in and out times.

Version 3 supports up to eight video tracks, but only eight audio tracks. Rubberband Audio “Auto” Gain is available, but has been awkwardly implemented.

In Non-segment mode, first select only the appropriate audio tracks. Next, place the blue Position Indicator where you want a node. Then, to create a node, set a keyframe. Adjust gain by dragging a node up/down. The Audio Editing Toolset provides access to four different tools: Mix, 3-band EQ, Automated Gain, and Audio Suite plug-ins. An Audio Punch-in tool is also included in version 3.

Finishing in Realtime

To complete my video, I created a master sequence in the sequences Bin and dragged my finished sequences into it. Next, I set In- and Out-points appropriately and confirmed the green “realtime” indicator was active. Then I selected only tracks with content, making sure the top-most video track was “monitored.” Next I issued an ExpertRender In to Out command. By using ExpertRender, only effects that must be rendered are processed. Lastly, I exported the master sequence to DV tape using the Digital Cut function.

Avid's realtime capabilities worked as advertised. As an experiment, I created a five-minute sequence with two color-corrected clips overlaid by a title that supered-in/out. A dissolve transitioned between the video clips over their duration. All eight audio channels had sound. On my 933Mhz Pentium 3 system with 512MB, realtime performance was fine at the High Quality image setting.

Avid's realtime implementation can't share rendering between multiprocessors. However, on a dual processor system, the render software will be tasked to the second processor. Avid's 300 realtime effects preview on your computer's screen and on an NTSC client monitor connected to a dual- or triple-head graphics board. I used a Matrox G450 board connected to an NTSC projector with good results.

By the time you read this, Xpress DV 3.5 will have been released. The big 3.5 news is that a single purchase supports both OS X (not G3 systems) and XP (not Windows 2000).

Version 3.5 provides a waveform monitor/vectorscope and color correction. The color correction tools are a subset of Symphony color correction technology. Color correction features include: “before/after” views, a three-monitor (previous/next/current) view, Avid's “NaturalMatch” auto-color correction, three ChromaWheel HSL color-offset wheels, HSL master controls, and four ChromaCurve interactive graphs.

Looking Ahead

In version 4, I believe Avid must include an integrated title scroll function and support all formats that can be transferred via FireWire: 480i/480p24 DV, 480i/480p24 DVCPRO25, 480i/480p24/480p60 DVCPRO50, and 720p24/720p60 DVCPRO100. You should not need to buy new software to edit higher quality DV-based formats.

It's also time for Avid to implement an interface that removes its lasso limitation and operates in a consistent manner. The current Timeline interface should be kept as a legacy for Avid editors and those who want to learn Avid-style editing. However, the new interface should have the enhancements.

In both Segment modes, a lasso must be able to begin within a Timeline so any clip can be selected. (Clip dragging would require a modifier-key be pressed.) Lift and Extract should function no matter how a clip was selected. When In- and Out-points are set in a Timeline, Backspace and Delete should, respectively, ripple and non-ripple remove a clip. (Track deletion would require a modifier-key be pressed.) To avoid inadvertent cut point selection when lassoing a clip, a left-to-right lasso should only select clips. Rubberband nodes should be created by double-clicking on an audio gain line. The Effects Editor should auto-open when you double-click any effect.

With these enhancements, Xpress DV will be competitive with Final Cut Pro. Xpress DV also has the advantage of being multi-platform. I believe over time we'll see that for Avid, “DV” means “Digital Video” — not simply “DV-codec” video. Check out www.mindspring.com/~d-v-c for an Xpress DV tutorial.

Xpress DV Selection Methods

Selection Method		Lasso	Click Shift-click	Lasso	Click Shift-click	Place Position Indicator
				Column defined by IN and OUT
Selection effort (number of steps)		low	medium	high
Edit Mode	Non-segment	yes	no	yes
	Segment: Lift/Overwrite	yes	yes	yes
	Segment: Extract/Splice-in	yes	yes	yes
Direct access to any object in Timeline		no	yes	yes
Actions After Selection	Delete	yes	yes	no
	Backspace	yes	yes	no
	Extract — X	no	no	yes
	Lift — Z	no	no	yes

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© 2008 Penton Media, Inc.