Moving Picture News

Moving Picture announces availability of Junxion Box for on-location internet access!

If you read our Summer Producer's Cheat Sheet, you saw an article showing one way to easily share your cellular internet connection from your PC-Card equipped Apple PowerBook to other wireless laptop users on set.

Now, Moving Picture has found a way for you to set up a wireless access point on-set, complete with cellular internet connection that's as fast as your home DSL! No Apple Powerbook is required. Just power up the Junxion Box and any laptops on set will be able to join in the network.

Check out the Junxion wireless internet access point rental page for more info.

Avid Filmmakers Make the Cut at 31st Annual Toronto Film Festival

‘Amazing Grace,’ ‘Breaking and Entering’ and Spike Lee’s ‘When the Levees Broke’ are among Avid-edited films chosen for the festival

Avid Technology, Inc. today announced that a wide variety of Avid® customers from cutting-edge independent documentary filmmakers – like Sarah Price, director and editor of Summercamp – to Academy Award® winning feature film editors – such as Dody Dorn of A Good Year – will feature their projects at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

“I wouldn’t use anything but Avid to work on a low-budget documentary like ‘So Goes the Nation’,” said Editor Jeff Groth. “On these types of projects, I need a tool that will allow me to work quickly and accurately, not waste time rendering sequences and, most importantly, not lose my media. When dealing with so much footage (over 400 hours in this case) and a budget that doesn’t allow me to burn time searching for clips and rebuilding sequences, using something like Final Cut Pro would have been too volatile and risky. Avid is the way to go, it manages my media, works intuitively, and allows me to focus on the story.”

Bonneville Editor Anita Brandt-Burgoyne and her assistant editor Helen Hand echo Groth’s sentiments when it comes to working on Avid for various types of projects. “Avid is always the system of choice for me when I’m working on a film, whether it’s an indie or studio feature,” Brandt-Burgoyne said. “I’ve tried other tools like Final Cut but found it was much more complicated to perform many functions, and I really missed the trim tools that Avid offers. The Avid Xpress Pro and Media Composer systems are much more intuitive – they work like an editor thinks and Avid’s interface is very easy to navigate.”

This year marks the 31st anniversary of the Toronto International Film Festival. The 10-day long event will showcase more than 350 films from 61 countries.

Read more for a list of projects created on Avid systems...

]]> The lineup at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival, which runs from September 7-16, includes numerous documentaries, short films and feature-length dramas created using Avid systems, such as:

A Good Year – by Academy Award-winning editor Dody Dorn, created using Avid Media Composer® Adrenaline™ and Avid Film Composer® systems;
American Hardcore - by director/editor Paul Rachman, created using Avid Xpress® Pro and Avid Symphony™ systems;
Amazing Grace - by editor Rick Shaine, created using a Meridien™ based Media Composer system;
Bonneville - by editor Anita Brandt-Burgoyne, created using Avid Xpress Pro and Media Composer Adrenaline systems;
Breaking and Entering – by director Anthony Minghella and edited by Lisa Gunning, created using Avid Xpress Pro and Media Composer Adrenaline systems;
Griffin and Phoenix - by editors Plummy Tucker and Tina Pacheco, created using Media Composer Adrenaline and Avid Unity™ systems;
Infamous – by editor Camille Tonilo, created using a Meridien based Media Composer system;
Little Children – by editor Leo Trombetta, created using a Meridien based Media Composer system;
So Goes the Nation – by editor Jeff Groth, created using Avid Media Composer and Avid Unity systems;
Summercamp – by director/editor Sarah Price and editor JoLynn Garness, created using Avid Xpress Pro and Avid Symphony systems;
The Dog Problem – by editor Jeff Werner created using an Avid Film Composer system; and
When the Levees Broke – by director Spike Lee and a team of editors, including Craig Gordon of rhinoedit, using Avid Media Composer and Avid Symphony Nitris® systems.

New Siblings in the Canon HD Camcorder Family

Just thought I would post a couple pics of the new handheld HD cameras Canon just added to their family over the past few days. As an editor, I believe it's important to keep up with the technology that is acquiring all of that great footage we cut on a daily basis. If you are a Canon fan but found the XLH1 for $8,995 a little out of your price range, you'll be happy to see the listing price for these new Pro Level HDV cameras with the XH A1 model coming in at $3,995 and and XH G1 introduced at $6,999. If you're in the market for a new camera, make sure you check them out.

Click either to enlarge

Avid and Supported Products

Once again Avid has released their support device list for all Avid Editor Products. This is a very important list of all of the decks and cameras that Avid has tested and qualifies for use with all Avid-editing products. The devices on this list are qualified for both Mac OSX and Windows XP Professional. These devices vary widely in their capabilities and limitations. Some devices may have limitations beyond those revealed in Avid'€s testing. In addition, device models are sometimes updated, which can affect test results and known issues.

Firewire Deck Control Problems with Avid or Final Cut Pro

Many of the deck control problems you may encounter may have something to do with the firewire connection. A faulty cable can also cause intermittent problems.

If have you have a high-end tape machine, chances are it may have a 9-pin serial R422 connection on the back. In this case, you would benefit from purchasing a simple adapter cable that will allow your Avid or Final Cut Pro system to take advantage of direct deck control using your Deck's 9 pin RSS 422 control.

If you are using a PC, all that is required is a simple cable that converts the RSS 422 (serial) - to RS 232 (serial). (Available here)

If your computer does not have a 9 pin serial port, or if you are using a Mac. You'll also need an USB to serial adapter.

Next, all you need to do is change your device control options to use RS 422 control instead of firewire. You will immediately notice that your device will control much better than it did with the firewire cable. You will still leave your firewire cable connection to your system for Video and Audio input. You will be using the RSS 422 connection from timecode and deck control.

One Hour of Footage Equals How Many Gigabytes?

5 minutes of DV footage equals approximates 1 gigabyte of storage. Digital Heaven has a free widget, VideoSpace v1.0, For OSX Tiger that will allow you to calculate how much disk space your Final Cut Pro or Avid Xpress video project will require before you begin. It's as simple as selecting the Codec that you will be using from a drop down menu of 17 options, selecting the framerate, and typing in the projected length of the program in HHMMSS format and Video Space will calculate the size of the file.

It can also work in reverse allowing you to enter in the storage capacity of optical storage media such as a DVD or CD and calculate the amount of video it can hold. Check out and Download Digital Heaven's VideoSPace right here.

Avid and Creative Movie Editing

Suspense, violence, and obsession are often key themes associated with director Brian De Palmas films (Scarface, Blow Out, Dressed to Kill), and his latest feature, The Black Dahlia, is no exception. Based on the James Ellroy novel, the film constructs a fictionalized, mysterious labyrinth surrounding one of the most sensationalized, unsolved murders in California history - that of Elizabeth Short, a young, glamorous, and would-be Hollywood starlet who came to be known simply as The Black Dahlia.

For added flexibility and efficiency, Pankow used a Macintosh G4 Powerbook laptop equipped with Avid Xpress Pro software, which allowed him to travel with the cut in progress to review and approve edits with creative team members, regardless of their location. Avid Xpress Pro was great for when Bill had to fly back to L.A. from Toronto to look at the digital intermediate, or to show what he had already cut to the director and try out new ideas with him, or to set it up on the mix stage in order to have a copy of the movie. The Avid Xpress Pro on the laptop saved a lot of time and made things very convenient, says Johnston.

The Avid Xpress Pro on the laptop saved a lot of time and made things very convenient.
- Lara Johnston, Assistant Editor, The Black Dahlia

Check out the offical The Black Dahlia site for the full details.

Creating a Subclip in Avid Express Pro

Subclipping is a very important part of the edting process. You create subclips to make shorter and more relivant clips to edit from.

Here are the steps to take to create a subclip:

1. Load your clip into the Source monitor.
2. Mark and in and out where you would like the clip to start and end.
3. Hold down the Alt key and click the source monitor and drag the subclip into the desired bin.
4. Name the sub-clip

You have now made a more manageable clip to edit from. The great thing about master clips is that because you have made a subclip from your master clip the subclip can be expanded in trim mode to reveal more footage.

Locking Your Items in Avid Express Pro

You have spent hours managing your media, making sub-clips, marking just the right in and out on your clips and then you delete the clip by accident. This horror can be avoided very easly in the Avid bin. Avid has a great way to lock your items in the bin, this is a highly underutilized feature of the Avid software. Locked items can still be edited and modified but locking them prevents deletion.

Here are the steps to lock your items in your bin:

You must first be in the Text View.

1. Display the Lock heading in the bin by going to the fast menu in lower left corner of the bin and go to headings and select the Lock heading.

2. Click the item you want to lock.

3.Navigate to Clip and click Lock BIn Selection

You can select multiple items with control click or shift click and lock them all at once.

Back to Basics 2: Avid Express Pro Effects

When you already have one effect applied to a transition in a sequence, you can apply an effect to multiple transitions at the same time.

How to apply an effect to multiple transitions in the Timeline:

1. If there is not already an effect on one of the transitions, add a transition effect.

2. Enter Effect mode, for example, by selecting Toolset > Effects Editing.

3. Click the existing transition effect to select it.

4. Click above the Timeline and begin dragging to activate a selection box. Continue to drag down and either to the left or right to include additional transitions in the selection.

5. Release the mouse button when you have lassoed all the transitions you want.

6. If the transitions where you want to apply the effect are not contiguous, Shift+click any transition to deselect it.

7. In the Effect Palette, double-click the icon for the effect that you want to apply to the transitions.

Back to Basics: Avid Express Pro

During my latest training session I found that getting back to basics is very important! I wrote several notes to myself about the simple stumbling blocks my last student had and thought I would share them to remind myself and anyone new to the Avid interface the important basics.

We had just finished creating his first sequence and he asked me, "How do I make another sequence?". This seemed very simple to me, since he just created a whole sequence, so I just assumed I was unclear in my explanation, but after looking at why he might be so confused, it made sense to me.

The timeline was already full with his current sequence and he did not understand that if he made a new sequence that it would not write over his current sequence. So to clarify, I reminded him of the sequence he had in the bin and then he made a new sequence by right clicking in the record monitor and clicking "Create New Sequence". A new sequence popped up in his bin and he started editing his new program. So this may seem very simple but it can be confusing if you are new to Avid.

Stay tuned for more Back to Basics with Avid Express Pro!

Adding two effects to a clip in Avid Xpress Pro

Adding multiple effects within Avid Xpress Pro can be trickier than it seems. Most novice users will eventually figure out that if you hold down the alt-key, you can stack multiple effects on to of each other. This method may produce undesirable results, because holding down the alt-key will nest one effect inside another. Using this method may cause require a user to think backwards, because of the way effects are nested inside each other.

(Click to see full-size)

An alternate method is to use the 'red segment' arrow and double click on an effect icon within a video segment. This will open up the effect so you can see its nested background. You can then drop an additional effect onto the background layer. If you need additional effects you can repeat the process by double clicking on an effect segment within a nest. (V1.2).

Differences in Avid Xpress HD vs Media Composer Adrenaline

The basic software interface and editing functions are practically identical. A novice Avid editor would never know the difference between Avid Xpress HD and Media Composer Adrenaline. Therefore, the same Avid editing class is applicable to both software products.

Both applications can run as software only. Just make sure you are running the software on one of Avid's qualified and recommended computer configurations.

The key functions that are only available in Media Composer are:

A vector based paint system
A 4 point motion tracker
Timewarp and motion effects that can be graphed out
SpectraMatte chroma keyer
Film Composer toolset

My favorite features in the Media Composer software that are not available in Avid Xpress are the integrated paint system and the motion tracker. These two features really add a lot of power when it comes to compositing effects.

There are differences between the two software options, but they may not be obvious to the typical Avid editor. You can visit Avid Technology's website for complete technical specifications of Media Composer or Avid Xpress HD.

Shooting for Avid and FCP Editing

If you are a pro, or just getting into editing and vidoeography, you need to be aware of a very important part of shooting your footage. You need to shoot, or have your camera operators shoot, for the edit.

For example: If you are shooting an interview, you need to have at least 5-10 seconds after you hit record and 5-10 seconds before you stop recording where the interviewee is looking at the camera, or desired direction, so that your edits will be smooth.

This may sound so simple, but it is often not done by many camera operators; but more so the subjects are not told they need to do this. It makes it really hard to insert a nice 20-frame dissolve while your subject is not moving according to what you are shooting. This is great rule to always follow no matter what type of subject you are shooting. It makes it so much easier when you get back to your Avid or Final Cut machine and have nice clean cuts to start with. This will make your editing process go so much smoother and make for a much more professional production.

Moving Picture Electronic Services Exceeds Customer Expectations

Moving Picture Electronic Services is pleased to announce the completion of another year of exceeding customer expectations. Serving the film industry since 1987, Moving Picture has provided rental equipment ranging from Avid Meridian and Avid Adrenaline editing systems to state-of-the-art High Definition cameras and monitors, to sound an video assist packages, to walkie-talkies and communications gear.

But let's let some of our customers speak on our behalf:

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"Those guys quickly pull it all together. They really saved the day, coming through in the clutch. Because of their support and involvement we met the 2003 deadline for submission of our film into the Sundance film festival and went on to become nominated for the Grand Jury Prize"

Mark Moormann, Director
Tom Dowd and the Language of Music
Nominated: Grammy Best Long Form Music Video 2005

"For four years in a row we have counted on them to provide five Media Composers and Unity for our biggest corporate meeting of the year. Choosing them year after year for this time critical live production speaks to their abilities."

Max Wyler
President
Accord Film and Video Services

"Renting from them 8 times in three years, there has never been a surprise -- they always deliver great support. Even after being shipped across the country the equipment always arrives working perfectly."

Doc Kohler
Senior Engineer
Hammond Communications Group

"Project after project, the technical support from their staff has always exceeded my expectations!!

Thanks guys!!"

Nick Link
Senior editor, Dolphin Entertainment (Miami Sands)
Nick has edited over 200 episodic one hour television shows on Avid Media Composers from us since 2001!

"Editing on location is always tricky, and when your schedule is tight there's no room for error. When we had to accelerate our post schedule for "The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada," because we were accepted into the Cannes Film Festival, they were able to accommodate every request I had and tech support all of our problems in a quick professional manner. I don't know if we would have gotten a print to the festival on time without them."

Larry Madaras, Assistant Editor,
"The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada"
Directed by Tommy Lee Jones

Thanks to Mark, Max, Doc, Nick, and Larry for their kind words. It's a pleasure to help them, and more, every year!