Avid Editing Tips and Tricks XII

Tips and tricks to speed up your Avid editing workflow.

This is the twelfth edition of the Avid Editing Tips and Tricks blog series. This week we'll discuss some tips and tricks that I've been using for a while. Please bear with me if you have too.

As always, if you have any comments or suggestions, you can reach me through the comments of this blog, through Google+,  LinkedIn or Twitter, using the @mBlazeVideo handle.

Again, keep in mind that I work on an Avid Media Composer on the Mac. If you are using Windows, the OPTION key on Mac is the same as the ALT key on Windows and COMMAND on the Mac works like the CTRL on Windows.

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  FluidMorph in Quick Transitions.

  Speeding Up the Use of Non-Realtime Effects - Back in the first Avid Editing Tips and Tricks of the series, we discussed creating a "Quick Transitions" bin to enable you to have custom transitions show up when using the Quick Transitions tool.
  
  If you use the same non-realtime effects on a regular basis, like I do with FluidMorph, this trick will save you multiple steps. Put the effect you would like to use in the Quick Transitions bin. Now when you want to apply that effect, you can use the Quick Transition tool and click the "Add and Render"button. The effect will be applied and rendered in much less step than applying it from the Effect Tool or from a saved bin.
  



Add metadata.



• Assign Metadata to Multiple Clips - On a lot of occasions, I like to apply the same metadata to multiple clips. This isn't exactly a hidden feature, but I was unaware of it until it was shown to me by BAVUG colleague, Bill Kenney.
  
  In the bin, select the clips you would like to add metadata, then RIGHT-CLICK in the selection under the column that you'd like to add the metadata. Choose "Set <column name> column for selected clips…" and enter the data in the set window that appears.



• Save All Bins - My general workflow is to have all of the bins I regularly use open in tabs. If I'm doing work in the bins, like moving clips from one bin to the other or adding metadata, I like to have an easy way to save all bins without having to click on each tab and save.
  
  A quick way to save all open bins is to hit COMMAND-9 followed by COMMAND-S. Hitting COMMAND-9 activates the project window and if you save from the project, it will save all open (changed) bins. The same is true if the Composer window or the Timeline is selected.



• Minimize Number of Tracks in Timeline - If you're importing stereo, import the audio as Multichannel Audio. That way it will only take up a single track when edited into the timeline. This makes audio mixing a lot easier, since any mixing you need to do can be done on single track.




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  Open Tab in New Window.

  Separate Avid FX (Boris RED) Windows - When I use Avid FX, I use it with 2 screens and like to have the video window on a screen by itself. I don't find Avid FX to be the most intuitive tool out there and it's not all that easy to find additional information about it online (even when searching on Boris RED).
  
  So here's a tip on how to undock windows and customize your workspace. RIGHT-CLICK on the tab and select "Open Tab in New Window". This will pull the current tab out from where it is docked and let you place it wherever you want.

I hope some of these tips and tricks have been useful. Please feel free to contact me with any suggestions you may have for future Avid Editing Tips and Tricks.