Section 1 Starting a Project Duration: 15 minutes This section introduces you to the Avid DS Nitris post-production process. You will learn how to create a project in Avid DS Nitris. The following topics provide information about starting a project: The Digital Post-Production Process Working with Project Files and Media Creating a New Project
Section 1 Starting a Project The Digital Post-Production Process The Avid DS Nitris system is a digital post-production environment. Once you ve acquired your footage in a digital format and put it on a storage device, Avid DS Nitris gives you complete, random access to the media with instant retrieval of clips and sequences. You also have quick, nonlinear access to any part of your sequence, as well as the ability to apply a wide variety of digital effects at any stage of your production. Because each post-production facility and its projects are unique, you can use the different tools and techniques available in Avid DS Nitris to complete them. You can import sequences offlined on other systems and proceed with your finishing tasks in Avid DS Nitris, or you can build a production from start to finish directly in Avid DS Nitris. After a project is complete, you can archive the media and files, making space for your next project. If you need to go back and re-edit a project, you can restore it at any time. The following illustration gives you an overview of the Avid DS Nitris production cycle. 10
The Digital Post-Production Process 2 Offline edit Create a rough cut of clips and decide on timing of cuts and transitions. If offlined externally, load *AAF, AFE, OMF files or EDLs, and digitize material from file, tape, or audio. Redigitize source material in full, uncompressed resolution from file or tape. 1 Capture material Digitize source material at low resolution directly from file or tape. 3 Fine-tune edit Fine-tune timing of cuts, transitions, and other effects. 7 Archive the project 4 Apply effects - Create composites. - Add 2D and 3D effects. - Mix and sweeten audio. - Add titles and graphics. - Perform dust/scratch removal and color correction. - Archive project and/or media to tape. - Project and media can be restored at any time. Repeat if necessary 6 Output media Output sequence to tape or file, such as.avi. 5 Process Process all effects applied to clips and create new media files (source media remains untouched). *AAF: Advanced Authoring Format, AFE: Avid File Exchange, OMF: Open Media Framework, and EDL: Edit Decision List. 11
Section 1 Starting a Project Working with Project Files and Media It is important to understand how Avid DS Nitris handles your data, so that you can work efficiently when using large sizes of digitized video and audio files. When you capture material, the digitized media is placed on an external storage device, and the project files representing this media are stored in the DS Projects folder on your workstation s local disk drive. The project files point Avid DS Nitris to the location of the corresponding digitized media on the storage device. Source material Clips refer to media on storage device. Captured video and/or audio are represented as master clips in Avid DS Nitris. Actual digitized material (media) is on storage device. 12
Working with Project Files and Media What is a Project? A project contains all the clips and sequences required for your work in Avid DS Nitris. In the Avid Explorer, which is a file browser similar to Windows Explorer, a project is represented as a folder that can contain many subfolders to organize all the elements related to your project. Projects contain master clips, sequences, and any special presets and/or scripts you create. Sequence files contain information about the edit decisions, composites, and effects you ve applied to your clips. Master clips are representations of the digitized media stored on a storage device. Master clips can be shared between sequences in the same project. A project also links and tracks master clips and sequences with their associated media, making file management easier. When you place clips on the timeline to build your sequence, they maintain pointers to the source media on the storage device. Any edits or effects that you apply to the clips are noted in the sequence when you save it. Clips, sequences, and presets (a customized set of properties saved for reuse on other projects) are all considered project files, and must be stored in the project folder. That way, you can easily archive, restore, and/or purge all files related to a project. When you archive a project, a copy of the media is saved to tape or disk and the project files are saved in the DS Archives folder on your local workstation. With the archived project files and associated media, you can reconstruct everything in your project when necessary. 13
Section 1 Starting a Project Creating a New Project n n As soon as you start Avid DS Nitris, you are prompted to open or create a project and sequence. When you create a project, you define the format for each sequence that you create in that particular project. You can change the video and audio quality settings during the course of your work according to the amount of storage space available. For example, if you want to conserve disk space, do a rough cut on material captured at low resolution or in compressed form. When the sequence is ready for finishing, redigitize the material you need, so you can work at the quality at which you will be outputting. Media Composer: All sequences in a Media Composer project must use the same format. In Avid DS Nitris, a project can contain sequences with different formats. To create a project: 1 When you start Avid DS Nitris, the Open Project dialog box displays. Select the Local Projects Only option at the bottom-left. 2 Click the New Project button. 14
Creating a New Project 2 Give your project a name. We named ours My First Project. 3 Select the NTSC 4/3 video format. The frame details are usually set automatically. 4 Set the resolution, bit depth, and compression for capturing the video media. 5 Set the sample rate and bit depth for the audio media. 7 Save project preferences. A new sequence is opened and the Editing layout is displayed for you to start building a sequence. 6 Get more information on each setting in this dialog box. 8 Select File > Save. In the Save Sequence dialog box, name it Sequence1 and click OK. 15
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