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AVID
MEDIA
COMPOSER
HANDBOOK
Ryan Geary

KEYBOARD COMMANDS/SHORTCUTS

Esc........................................Toggle between making source and record monitors

active
Tab.......................................Move from one active slider to the next in effects editor
Space/5 key..........................Pause/play media
1 Key....................................Go back ten frames
2 Key....................................Go forward ten frames
3 Key....................................Go back one frame
4 Key....................................Go forward one frame
I key......................................Marking the in point of a clip
O key....................................Marking the out point of a clip
G key....................................Clear in and out points
T key....................................Mark clip (in/out points are added to entire clip)
V key....................................Splice icon
Q key....................................Go to in point
W key...................................Go to out point
Z key....................................Lift tool, removes clip and replaces it with filler.
6 key.....................................Play clip from in to out point
Cmnd + ..............................Send selected window back to its default location
Cmnd + N............................Creates new bin
Cmnd + D............................Duplicates selected clip, sequence, or title
Cmnd + L............................Enlarges clips in timeline
Cmnd + K............................Shrinks clips in timeline
Cmnd + A............................Selects all/everything
Cmnd + W...........................Closes open windows, bins, or dialog boxes
Cmnd + Click......................Use to snap position indicator directly after previous clip
Shift + Cmnd + G...............Creates a group clip from selected master or sub clips
Alt + Clipboard Icon..........Copies material between mark in/mark out on selected
track(s) and places it into the clipboard
Alt + Weight Lift Icon........Lifts material between mark in/mark out on selected
track(s) and places it into source window
Alt + Cut Icon.....................Extracts material between mark in/mark out on selected
track(s) and places it into source window
Alt + volume slider.............Changes to 0 dB in audio EQ and audio tools
Alt + drag keyframe...........Moves audio keyframe in timeline
Cmnd + drag.......................Hold command while placing cursor between two tracks.
The resize icon will appear. When you hold the mouse down you make the track
wider/narrower
Cmnd + [ or ].......................Shows more or less detail in the timeline
Cmnd + Y............................Add a new video track
Cmnd + U............................Add a new audio track
Cmnd + /..............................Displays entire sequence in timeline window

BASICS
PROJECT WINDOW:
The central repository of everything inside the project. It contains six
tabs: bins, settings, effect palette, format, usage, and info.
TIMELINE:
Displays video and audio clips being currently worked on/edited.
COMPOSER WINDOW:
Two separate screens, the source monitor and record monitor, above the
timeline. The source monitor displays raw master clips, which originate
from the bins. The record monitor shows the visual output of the timeline.

These icons are to take you back

or forward 1 or 10 frames in a clip.

BINS:
- Bins are essentially folders that
contain clips, whether they are video
or audio.
- Text view, frame view, & script view.
- Tabbed interface above bins allows
you to create multiple tabs of
separate bins so you can toggle back
and forth between sets of clips.
- Arrow pointing down to the right of the tabs makes it easier to select
through tabs.
- Icons next to bins indicate whether it is open or closed in tab window.
The icons filled in with black are closed, while the transparent ones are
open.

- Fast Menu (next to New Bin button) is a drop-down menu for

creating new folders of bins, such as a folder for bins of B-roll content.
- You can manipulate how the content within the text view of a bin is
listed by clicking the fast menu and selecting Choose Columns. This
lets you choose which information is listed.
- The icon next to the fast menu, frame view, simply shows thumbnails
of all of the clips in the bin.
- Relink offline media by right clicking the media in the bin its located.
- Make sure that all available drives are selected.
- Uncheck box Relink only to media from current project
- Uncheck box that says, Match case when comparing source
names
- Video Parameters Relink To Any Video Format

SETTINGS:
When searching through settings
tab, simply type the first letter of
the setting you would like to
change to find it, rather than
scrolling through.
Shifting the check mark to the left
of a setting when there are
duplicates dictates which setting
is currently applied, e.g. having
two separate settings for the
keyboard, one for general editing
environment and the other for
specifically audio, etc.
Media Creation Settings: where
you set things like my media
resolution and the hard drives to
which the media is captured.

TOOLS/TECHNIQUES
JKL TRIMMING: A variable motion and direction control device. It allows
you to perform a trim while playing the video at either real time, or at a
variable speed.
When you press J once, it goes backwards in real time.
As you press it more and more times, it gets faster and faster in
reverse.
L does the same thing, but forward.
If you hold down K and J and the same time, you will go
backwards at one quarter speed, and vice versa if you hold K
and L at the same time, you go forward at one quarter speed.
Can be enabled in the Trim Edit window or in the Editing tab of
the User Preferences window.
As the clip is playing, press K where you want the new edit point
to be.
THREE POINT EDITING: Method used to insert a clip from the source
media into the timeline, which is done by setting three edit points.
The first two set points define the in and out points of the clip, or
the in and out points in the timeline that the clip will fit into.
The third point indicates either the in or out point for the clip (if
the other two points are in the timeline), or the in and out points
in the timeline (if the other two points are in the clip).
EXTRACTING/LIFTING:
Extracting removes a shot from a selected clip and ripples in all
of the clips to fill in the gap.
Lifting instead leaves behind visual filler and leaves all of the
rest of the clips alone.
SUBCLIPS/SUBSEQUENCES:
Purpose: To break a master clip or sequence down to its more
basic components.
To do so either...
o Drag subclip icon (very top left above source monitor
screen) into the bin and name the subclip.
o Use Option key and drag source monitor clip into the
bin.

DATA/FILES
FILE TYPES:
Avid transcodes all media imported into its native file type which is
MFX.
To locate where the native files are kept, locate the Avid Media
Files file on the media drive and within it will be an MFX folder.
Within the FORMAT tab of the project window...
o Depending on what is chosen as the project type & raster
dimensionthat will affect the media type that will be in the
media creation settings.
Avid Media Composer can handle various types of media in the
timeline regardless of resolution and frame rate if one downloads
the AMA plug-in.
o Avid Media Access (AMA): A plug-in architecture that greatly
accelerates your tapeless video workflows. With AMA, you
can simply connect a support card/disc or device and begin
viewing and cutting footage right away no need to
transcode media or use other software to view the extra
clips. Avids website
EXPORTING
Right click on sequence and
choose export.
If you select Use marks in
the options window, it will
export between an in and an
out point in the sequence.
If you choose Use enabled
tracks, it will export only the
tracks that you have enabled
in the timeline.
If you export as Quicktime
Movie, select Custom and
then click the Format
Options... box, you get the
same movie settings
option window as you do
on Final Cut Pro (see next
page for screenshot).

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
Creating a New user profile allows you to create your own custom
interface settings.
If you ever need to go back to the default Media Composer
factory settings, you can do it easily by reverting back to the
original user profile. Having a custom user profile for yourself
allows you save a certain arrangement of windows and tools to
have readily available, etc. This provides customization for
users, allowing them to isolate the interface of the program.

TIPS/THINGS TO REMEMBER:
- Always back up data and files. It is important to always prepare for
disaster and be ready for any data loss.
- After creating a sequence and saving it, its a good habit to end the
name of that sequence with the date and your initials. That way if
you are editing the project with others, they know who and when it
was created.
- When cutting on action shots, it is important to maintain continuity
within the movement of the subject.
- White L shaped icon in bottom left of record monitor indicates you
are right at the end of the previous edit/clip point.
- The JKL editing coincides with the I and O keys to facilitate the
process of navigating and marking clips for editing. This way you
have a lot of control just with three fingers on the keyboard.
- The advantages of using keyboard commands and shortcuts are
worth it because you will be a more efficient editor. It will also make
you look more legitimate.