Just starting out with Avid- lots of questions

1. matjusm
   Member

   
   I've been using Sony Vegas for quite some time now and I really really like it but unfortunately it seems that I have to know how to use an Avid if I want to get work in the professional world. Anyway, I'm on Media Composer and I've got some questions (and more will surely arise the more I deal with the program):
   
   1) How do I get audio waveforms to show? Under 'Timeline settings' there is a thing called 'Show marked waveforms' but no matter whether its turned on or off, I'm seeing no waveforms. Vegas always showed me waveforms by default.
   2) I imported a bunch of different video files into my bin and when I tried to open some of them in the source window, it said that clip frame rate does not match the project frame rate. Why does the program "care"? Sony Vegas never ever gave me such problem. But since it is a problem, any ideas on how I can fix it?
   3) And speaking of importing video, does anybody know a good 'anything to Avid' converter which will allow me to make Avid readable files out of pretty much anything? Because for some reason it won't let me open a DIVX encoded .avi, even though I have all the latest codecs installed. Yet again, Vegas allowed me to drop pretty much anything I wanted onto its timeline and very very rarely gave me problems with it. Avid might be the most widespread in the professional world but it still has a bit of catching up to do in the field of flexibility.
   4) Is there any way to link the two audio tracks of the same audio file together? Right now it gives me two tracks for every piece of audio that I drag onto the timeline so when I want to do some audio editing, it gets quite annoying to have to do double the work. Anybody know any good tips? (and I must say that Vegas is wonderful for audio editing)
   5) Is there any way to adjust the audio gain right on the timeline, where I see the audio clip gain? Its so annoying to have to go into the audio mixer. I want to do it right on the timeline like Vegas allows me. And is there any way to adjust the video opacity this way? I think even Final Cut Pro, or at least in one video I saw, allowed you to do this.
   
   Thanks for any help and more questions are sure to come.

   Posted 4 years ago #

2. jburkhart
   

   
   Getting used to a new work flow always comes with some problems. Perseverance is key, there will be some things that you will like more about Avid, and there will be things you like more about Vegas. It's always good to know the tools...
   
   1) At the bottom of your timeline in the very lower left hand corner of the window, is a "hamburger menu" (it used to look like a hamburger back in the day, now it looks like a rectangle with a black line in the middle). Click on that, and a drop down menu will open. Select Audio Data and then select "sample plot". You can also view by energy level (volume) or both at the same time,. experiment with the settings and see what works best for you.
   
   2) I'll need more info for this one. What are the different types of video you're putting into the project. What are your project settings?
   
   3) The Avid codecs should be installed on your machine. You can use quicktime pro (or any other quicktime app) to export Avid video.
   
   4) make sure that both your audio tracks are selected (a1 and a2 buttons on the right column of buttons) they should then be locked together for any editing and effects you apply.
   
   5) No. You have to use the audio mixer. I agree that Vegas has better audio capabilities. However Avid is not really designed to finish audio, it's purely an editing tool. They expect at this level that you would export the audio for a final mix in a dedicated audio editing program (there are several export options for audio). You have to use the effect tool to adjust opacity.
   
   Don't get disheartened there's an initial frustration in trying out any new software. Keep plugging away and once the "penny drops" about the workflow, you will find out why the top end editors still use it.
   
   JB

   John Burkhart
   Editor-in-Chief
   Videomaker

   Posted 4 years ago #

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