The latest software Avid and NewBlueFx is must have (and Must get someone else to pay!)

There are two software packages available which are great tools to have in your editing room.

Avid Media Composer (AMC) 6.5 is the update with which I would replace version 5.5. Updating software is always a tenuous proposition: you never know what has been broken until you make the upgrade, and then it’s too late. Better to wait until you know with confidence that the upgrade will work for you.

AMC version 6 had some nice improvements: it was 64 bit, which means it can use more system memory. It introduced Workspaces where you could customize the window / tool layout depending on your task. It expanded beyond the few standard presets, such as ‘Source / Record Editing’. This is extremely useful. I have, for example, set up a ‘Laptop’ preset which compresses all windows to my 15” Macbook Pro screen. Then I’ve created a ‘Home’ preset for when my laptop is connected to my home 24” monitor.

Tabbed windows is another feature introduced in version 6. You can have one window with tabs for several open bins – imagine putting different sound effect bins within the same window. Like a Superbin… only usable. Even tools can be arranged in one window, such as the Audio Mixer, the Audio Suite, and the EQ tool. A very efficient way to use real estate.

But version 6 wasn’t an essential upgrade. I heard of several episodic shows having difficulties with it. One show even downgraded back to version 5. And there was no one feature that I had to have.

Now we have 6.5. And now we have reasons to upgrade.

One complaint about Avid is they’ve been co-opting Final Cut Pro features. That turns out to be a good thing, as Final Cut Pro has dropped essential editing features, if not dropping out of professional editing all together.

One new feature Avid has co-opted is the ability to play up to 64 voices of audio. FCP could play up to 100 tracks of audio. Of course, that was individual mono tracks. In practical terms, this means AMC can play 24 tracks of stereo audio (it is still limited to 24 physical tracks). Version 6 introduced the ability to handle 5.1 and 7.1 audio tracks. So version 6.5 could potentially play ten 5.1 tracks, or eight 7.1 tracks. (Why you’d want eight tracks of 7.1? Beats me, but more is always better!).

Keyframes: this is where Avid has added a killer feature. With a external mixing panel such as Avid’s Artist Mix I can create a complicated mix of music against dialogue. If for some reason I need to replace the music track used, I would then have to redo that mix (damn directors!). Avid can now copy and paste audio keyframes. So I can change the music track, and copy the keyframes to retain the same mix. Sweet!

Here is the screen for pasting Keyframes. Hmm. Paste Attributes. Now where have I seen that before…?

 More keyframe goodness: you can mouse / lasso keyframes or command+click individual keyframes to select, the you can move them laterally or horizontally. This includes selecting individual keyframes that are non-contiguous.

These are fantastic changes.

Honestly, there are so many new features I haven’t quite figured them all out. Bin Layout? I’ll get back to you. AMA Volumes? One of these days. JPEG 2000 codec? This will take some reading.

Every day I marvel at how much AMC has improved in the recent few years. The ability to retain dissolves when editing in a new clip, edit from one sequence to another without a dissolve stopping me, or moving a clip and having the dissolve / transition remain has more than once kept me from putting my head through a wall. The Smart Tool, arguably another idea taken from FCP, has made my editing day infinitely easier. And just having stereo tracks allows for better sounding mixes and much easier timeline’s to manage.

The next software package worth trying is NewBlue Titler Pro. The Avid title tool hasn’t improved is a long time. It’s partner, Marquee, is complicated to the point of uselessness. Titler Pro is an excellent alternative.

NewBlueFx is a company that makes several visual and audio plugins for Avid, FCP, and Premiere. Titler Pro costs around $300 and is everything the AMC title tool is not. It is fast and flexible, has many presets for motion and textures, has a timeline for animation, and has simple controls to directly manipulate size, position, etc.

As installed, it looks like just another effect in the effects palette. Drop it on a clip or on fill, open the Effects Tool, and choose to Launch User Interface.

Titler Pro Interface

It takes some experimentation, but all the controls can be dragged, and all the parameters can be keyframed. Its like Marquee… no wait, actually it isn’t. Its what we wish Marquee and the Title Tool were.

NewBlueFx also has a color corrector called ColorFast, which included secondary color correction, a missing feature from AMC’s color correction tools. It also has many other picture and audio effects plugins. They can all be downloaded for a free trial.

Support these companies by trying their upgrades… and getting someone else to pay for them.

I’ve had two friends commit suicide. The why is unknowable. Would it help them in some way to know they will be missed? A lot. So will Tony Scott.

According to Steve…

Designed to help both newbies and advanced editors get up to speed quickly and easily, the just-released third edition has been extensively rewritten and contains nearly 50 pages of additional material, including a new chapter on Script Integration and ScriptSync. It’s full of shortcuts and tips that should help you work

more quickly, along with material on critical subjects you may have glossed over, like advanced keyframes, stereo audio and the Smart Tool.

It now focuses squarely on MC 6, and all illustrations reflect that version.

NewBlueFX Titler Pro is a new program to me. Here is its website. Titler Pro is a new release for the Mac platform, which can work as a replacement for Avid’s Title Tool /  Marquee. Here is a review and video demo.

I have found that often my tracks will sound good in my room through my nice speakers but when the show plays through smaller TV speakers, consumer amplifiers or is recorded to DVD it becomes distorted.  In order to fix this it is necessary to add compression to the tracks.  Compression is common in all audio applications from broadcast to live performance to aid in clear reproduction.

Timeline

This is my timeline.  I put dialog on A1 & A2.  Both of these tracks get compression.   There is an audio plug-in called Bombfactory. It a peak limiter which is helpful on tracks heavy with explosions or gun shots.

This is the compression/limiter.   The two key controls are the ratio and the thresh (threshold).

Compressor / Limiter

The RATIO is usually is set to 3 or 4.  This is the amount the limiter will reduce loud noises.

The THRESHOLD is the level at which the limiter is triggered.  If you set it to 0dB it wouldn’t do anything.  A light compression would be around -5 to -10.  A heavy threshold at -20 or so flattens everything.  This is helpful if you have screeching actors.

Incidentally, I have used compression on music tracks to help separate them from dialog tracks.  By limiting the dynamic ranch of some music it will fight the dialog less.  This is trick used often in commercials.

I reserve track 8 for bar and coffee shop ambient music.  To help the music feel like its being played on a house system, I add slight reverb to it.  The key settings are:

MIX – set to 50% of the signal getting reverb.

Room 1 and medium – seems to be the least offensive.

This is not a great reverb tool.  It sounds artificial.

D-Verb

Another filter that is helpful is too EQ out the high end to simulate distance.

My only experience with sound goes back to mixing commercials in the analog days.  If anybody has any suggestions for different settings or improvements I would appreciate the comments.