User manual PINNACLE LIQUID EDITION V6

Pinnacle Liquid User's Guide Version 6.0 / September 2004 © Pinnacle Systems 2004 All rights reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced or transferred to other media without explicit written permission from Pinnacle Systems, Braunschweig, Germany. All brand or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Pinnacle Systems retains the right to make alterations to the content of the manual without the obligation to inform third parties. P INNACL E Introduction Contents ....................................................................................................................... 1-1 Why So Much Paper?.................................................................................................. 1-2 Overview.................................................................................................................. 1-2 General ......................................................................................................................... 1-3 Buttons ................................................................................................................... 1-3 Text Styles ............................................................................................................... 1-3 Shortcut Menus and Menu Bar ..................................................................................... 1-3 It Looks Different in the Book!.................................................................................... 1-4 Where Do I Get the Buttons? ........................................................................................... 1-7 Taskbar.................................................................................................................... 1-9 Keyboard Shortcuts ................................................................................................... 1-10 But First ... ................................................................................................................... 1-12 Media Management ......................................................................................................... 1-14 Quickstart Contents ....................................................................................................................... 2-1 General ......................................................................................................................... 2-1 What Do You Want to Do?........................................................................................... 2-2 Step by Step ................................................................................................................. 2-2 Inserting Clips on the Timeline ........................................................................................ 2-9 Output ......................................................................................................................... 2-20 Output with the RS 422 Control Protocol ...................................................................... 2-22 Table of Contents I PINN ACL E Recording AV Contents ...................................................................................................................... 3-1 General ........................................................................................................................ 3-2 What You Need (Checklist) ......................................................................................... 3-3 Step by Step ................................................................................................................. 3-4 Plus ... ......................................................................................................................... 3-10 LIVE Player .............................................................................................................. 3-10 Analog IN ................................................................................................................ 3-12 Direct Insertion ........................................................................................................ 3-14 Tracks and Mapping................................................................................................... 3-15 Tips ............................................................................................................................. 3-16 Tape Has Identical TCs............................................................................................... 3-16 Breaks in the Timecode.............................................................................................. 3-17 Alternative AV Drives/Directories................................................................................. 3-18 When to Digitize As Stereo and When As Mono? ............................................................ 3-20 Methods: Log, Digitize All or Scene Detection? .............................................................. 3-21 Batch Digitize (Capture) ............................................................................................ 3-21 Automatic Scene Detection in the Logging Tool ............................................................................................................ 3-22 Storyboarding General ........................................................................................................................ 4-1 Step by Step ................................................................................................................. 4-2 II Table of Contents P INNACL E Edit Contents ....................................................................................................................... 5-1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 5-2 Single-Track versus A/B Editing................................................................................... 5-2 The Logical Sequence for Editing ................................................................................. 5-3 General ......................................................................................................................... 5-3 What You Need ......................................................................................................... 5-4 Step by Step ................................................................................................................. 5-5 Drag & Drop ............................................................................................................. 5-5 Source Viewer ........................................................................................................... 5-10 Trim Editor............................................................................................................... 5-13 Trimming Transitions ................................................................................................. 5-16 Three-Point Editing ................................................................................................... 5-17 Plus ... ......................................................................................................................... 5-22 Linear Timewarp........................................................................................................ 5-22 Generating a Still with a Snapshot............................................................................... 5-26 Multilayering ............................................................................................................ 5-27 Containers ............................................................................................................... 5-30 Multicam Editing....................................................................................................... 5-34 Tips ............................................................................................................................. 5-38 When Should You Use Which Method? .......................................................................... 5-38 Clip Viewer Contents ....................................................................................................................... 6-1 General ......................................................................................................................... 6-1 Here's How............................................................................................................... 6-1 Automatic Scene Detection......................................................................................... 6-4 Audio ...................................................................................................................... 6-6 Realtime Color Correction in the Clip Viewer .................................................................. 6-8 Table of Contents III PINN ACL E Effects Contents ...................................................................................................................... 7-1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 7-2 Realtime or Rendering ............................................................................................... 7-2 Background Rendering ............................................................................................... 7-2 Clip and Transition Effects.......................................................................................... 7-3 General ........................................................................................................................ 7-4 What You Need ......................................................................................................... 7-4 Step by Step ................................................................................................................. 7-5 Clip Effect................................................................................................................ 7-5 Clip Effect Applied to an Entire Track ........................................................................... 7-9 Transition Effect ....................................................................................................... 7-9 Applying a 2D Effect.................................................................................................. 7-17 Special Effects ............................................................................................................... 7-21 Hollywood FX ........................................................................................................... 7-21 Alpha Magic FX ......................................................................................................... 7-23 Audio Contents ...................................................................................................................... 8-1 General ........................................................................................................................ 8-2 What Do You Want to Do? .......................................................................................... 8-2 Step by Step ................................................................................................................. 8-2 Turning Down Background Noise ................................................................................. 8-2 Recording Spoken Text with Voice Over ........................................................................ 8-8 One Track for Music ................................................................................................... 8-10 Applying an Audio Crossfade....................................................................................... 8-12 Tips ............................................................................................................................. 8-14 Adjusting Audio for Entire Tracks ................................................................................ 8-14 Digitizing Audio ....................................................................................................... 8-16 On the Timeline ........................................................................................................ 8-17 Disbanding Clips ....................................................................................................... 8-18 Output Mapping........................................................................................................ 8-18 Playback.................................................................................................................. 8-21 IV Table of Contents P INNACL E Generating Titles General ......................................................................................................................... 9-1 Step by Step ................................................................................................................. 9-2 DVD Authoring General ....................................................................................................................... 10-1 Step by Step ............................................................................................................... 10-2 Output .................................................................................................................. 10-13 Output Contents ..................................................................................................................... 11-1 Record to Tape ............................................................................................................ 11-2 Record................................................................................................................... 11-2 Stripe Tape ............................................................................................................ 11-3 Export Sequence .......................................................................................................... 11-4 Functions in the Export Sequence Dialog Box .............................................................. 11-4 Project Administration Contents ..................................................................................................................... 12-1 General ....................................................................................................................... 12-1 Step by Step ............................................................................................................... 12-2 Creating, Opening and Deleting Projects ..................................................................... 12-2 Backing Up and Restoring Projects ............................................................................ 12-3 Cleaning Up ........................................................................................................... 12-5 Deleting Objects, the Trash Icon ............................................................................... 12-9 Finding/Importing Media Files .................................................................................. 12-10 Input Wizard .......................................................................................................... 12-12 Verifying Imported Media ......................................................................................... 12-14 Plus ... ....................................................................................................................... 12-16 Formats and Media Types.......................................................................................... 12-16 Opening Multiple Racks Simultaneously ...................................................................... 12-17 Index ...........................................................................................................I-1 Table of Contents V PINN ACL E VI Table of Contents P INNACL E Chapter 1 Introduction Contents Why So Much Paper? .................................................................................................. 1-2 Overview.................................................................................................................. 1-2 General .........................................................................................................................1-3 Buttons ................................................................................................................... 1-3 Text Styles ............................................................................................................... 1-3 Shortcut Menus and Menu Bar ..................................................................................... 1-3 It Looks Different in the Book!.................................................................................... 1-4 Where Do I Get the Buttons? ............................................................................................1-7 Taskbar.................................................................................................................... 1-9 Keyboard Shortcuts.................................................................................................... 1-10 But First ... ...................................................................................................................1-12 Media Management .........................................................................................................1-14 PINN ACL E Why So Much Paper? You might wonder why Pinnacle Liquid comes with so much paper ­ why have both a Reference Manual and a User's Guide ­ especially when a lot of the contents overlap. Simply put, the reason is the quality of the editing software, which allows it to be used by both amateur and professional users. Considering the different user groups, we thought that in addition to the Reference Manual (which does cover all the functions but often takes "basic" knowledge a little far), it would also be a good idea to have a User's Guide. The User's Guide is primarily aimed at users without a lot of previous knowledge. It presents the functions in context and with an emphasis on their practical applications, accompanied by many examples. In addition to these two manuals, there is also a third that deals with product-specific information and provides a detailed description of installation and the settings governing the interaction of connected devices. When learning a foreign language, you don't start out by learning all the grammar and then fill in the blanks with vocabulary; the two go hand in hand. The same is true of Pinnacle Liquid, in which theory and practice complement one another. Now and then you'll have to go deeper but for to start, we took the following principle as our guide: As much practice as possible, as much theory as necessary. Overview This guide is structured according to the same principle: First of all, you have to get the software onto your computer. So the first item on the agenda is installation, which is described in the Product Manual. If you haven't yet installed the software, follow the instructions given there. The Product Manual presents the fairly dry basics of customizing Pinnacle Liquid for your computer system and equipment. If you only use one digital device (same device used for playback and output), you can skip most of the corresponding chapter. The "Quickstart" in this User's Guide takes you on a quick tour of the most important functions, from input to output. It was beyond the scope of this quick run-through to describe all possible configurations so we've limited ourselves to the most likely scenario in which material is imported from a remotecontrolled digital device and then output to this device or a CD. This allows you to work through the "Quickstart" chapter without being bogged down by currently not needed information, such as the settings for analog equipment. Subsequent chapters are arranged in roughly the same order as the chapters in the Reference Manual (based on the workflow ­ (see also The Logical Sequence for Editing on page 5-3)) but, again, with a greater emphasis on practical applications and with more detailed examples. 1-2 Chapter Introduction P INNACL E General Buttons A user interface is largely made up of buttons; otherwise you would get lost in a jungle of complicated texts. In addition to some universal symbols (for example, the triangle for "Play"), you'll find the typical Windows buttons: Minimize, Maximize, Close Shortcut Menus and Menu Bar In developing Pinnacle Liquid's visual design, there was one overriding concern: keep it simple and easy to use. Most of the functions are called either from a shortcut menu (right-click) or by means of a tool button. Alongside Tools, Shortcut Menus are the principal operating elements in Pinnacle Liquid. All useful functions are grouped in these shortcut menus specific to objects and certain areas. And that's where you should look first. Right-click here There are also several symbols that you won't recognize from other products or devices. Here are some symbols that you will often encounter in dialog boxes and function modules: The checkmark stands for OK or Apply and the X stands for Cancel Shortcut menu (example) The running man stands for Exit. This button serves to close several different modules. Reset to default values For a more extensive assortment of tool buttons, refer to the Reference Manual, "Basics" chapter. Text Styles Text in italics refers to the software (for example, Menu Bar > Tools) where ">" represents one step in a progression. Keyboard shortcuts are also highlighted: CTRL + A. For some commands, you must first select a Rack or several clips in order to indicate where you want to apply the function. For example, if you want to import a clip, first select the Rack to which you want to import it. You'll notice that the background of certain windows starts to flash (light-gray ­ dark-gray). This means that the subsequent action will be applied to this particular area. This is especially helpful when, for instance, you have opened or selected multiple Racks. Almost all these functions are also contained in the Menu Bar, which wasn't available in earlier versions of Pinnacle Liquid. Chapter Introduction 1-3 PINN ACL E In this User Guide, we'll access some of the functions from the Menu Bar. If you're already accustomed to using shortcut menus, you'll have no trouble finding the corresponding commands there. Beginners will find the functions of the Input and Output Wizards to be especially helpful. If you're not sure how to import or output material, turn to the appropriate Wizard for assistance. User interface at 1024 x 768 User interface at 1280 x 1024 Dual monitor operation: Left - Project Window; right - Sequence Editor Call Input-Wizard Call Output Wizard It Looks Different in the Book! The User's Guide is illustrated with many screenshots from throughout the user interface. In some cases, the user interface on your screen may look a little different. That's because this manual deals with several products that differ in a number of details. The appearance of the user interface also varies depending on the resolution of your particular screen. Our screenshots are based on a specific resolution. They appear smaller than they do at higher resolutions and a number of tool buttons that fit beside the Viewers at a lower resolution are positioned below the Viewers at a higher resolution. So if Pinnacle Liquid uses the higher resolution on your computer and you start running into problems simply because our screenshots look different from yours, don't worry! You can change the resolution by right-clicking on the Windows desktop to open the shortcut menu and selecting Properties. You can then adjust the screen resolution on the Settings tab. You may have to reinstall Pinnacle Liquid before the software settings can take effect. There is also another setting that affects the appearance of the user interface: Right-click the Toolbar to open the shortcut menu and select Customize to open the Function Library. Toolbar Right-click to open shortcut menu In the Function Library, select the Special tab. This tab contains the Inlay Quality Menu button (Q symbol). While holding down the left mouse button, drag the Q to an empty spot on the Toolbar or a place between two other buttons and drop it (see large figure on the next page). Then click Close to close the Function Library. 1-4 Chapter Introduction P INNACL E Special tab Function Library Chapter Introduction 1-5 PINN ACL E Now click the Q button to open the Inlay Quality menu and select the bottom option to change the display to the smaller size (no checkmark) so that your screen will look like the screenshot in the book. Default Inlay Size Because the work situation described in this document involves only one monitor, the descriptions provided are based on the use of the Project Browser for managing material. If you happen to have two monitors, you have the option of using the left-hand monitor for the Project Window. The Project Browser and Project Window are basically the same thing ­ the elements described here for the Project Browser can also be found in the Project Window. Project Browser Project Window 1-6 Chapter Introduction P INNACL E Where Do I Get the Buttons? If you come across tool buttons in the User's Guide that don't appear on your Toolbar but can be seen in the screenshots at the appropriate locations, don't panic! They do exist. The procedure is the same as was described above for screen resolution. Right-click the Toolbar to open the shortcut menu. Select the top option in the list (Customize) to open the Function Library containing the functions for the current module, identified by symbols. The Function Library contains all the buttons for the specific module, including those already located on the Toolbar. If you want to use a function repeatedly or at regular intervals, use drag & drop (click to select, hold down left mouse button, drag and drop) to position the button on the Toolbar. Like any extensive library, our Function Library is organized by "subject". For example, the Player tab contains the control buttons that move the Playline to a specific position, whereas the Edit tab contains Selection and Editing buttons. To remove buttons that you never use or use only very seldom, drag the button back to the Function Library. It makes no difference whether the correct tab is currently selected. The same functions found on the tabs of the Function Library are also contained in the list of functions for one-time execution, but here they appear as text entries. The arrangement is the same, i.e. the tabs of the Function Library correspond to the five entries in the shortcut menu from which you can call the functions to apply them once. Be conservative when customizing the toolbar. In the beginning, leave things just as they are. Although the Reference Manual tells you how to return everything to its original state, you should use this procedure only when you have no other choice. See the Reference Manual, "Customize" chapter. Note: The shortcut menus may be only partially displayed, depending on the software module from which you opened the menu. Chapter Introduction 1-7 PINN ACL E Right-click the toolbar to open the shortcut menu Toolbar Function Library ­ tabs correspond to the entries in the shortcut menu Shortcut menu 1-8 Chapter Introduction P INNACL E Taskbar The monitor icon stands for Video Output. When editing, you always have the possibility of viewing the results of your work on a video monitor or TV as well. To do this, you must have a monitor connected to a breakout box via the analog ports. Then select the appropriate cabling option for the Video Output. These ports are available with the box that is supplied with the product Liquid Edition PRO: YUV, Y/C, CVBS, 1394. If you select None (i.e. no output), a preview is available only in the inlay. On the other hand, this is the smoothest way to perform scrubbing. These settings again become important later on when you want to output the sequence. Note that for DV-out in particular, everything must be rendered. Glossary: The breakout box is a connection box with various connection options connected to the computer via a USB2 port or other interface. The different products ­ Liquid blue, and Liquid Edition PRO ­ use different breakout boxes. No box is delivered with Liquid Edition. To access several views for the Pinnacle Liquid interface, click the View Switcher (eye icon) and select an available desktop view. Note: Right-click the Windows taskbar, select Properties and in the dialog box displayed, deactivate the checkbox next to Always on top. In the lower right-hand corner of the Taskbar, you'll find several important functions that are always visible. The "thumbs up" icon tells you that the system started correctly. If a problem occurs, an exclamation point appears in the same spot. The color of the exclamation point indicates the particular type of problem (see the Reference Manual). The sigma icon (the Greek letter S) represents the Render Viewer window. Rendering means the computation of effects. Click the S icon to open the Render Viewer window, where you can monitor the rendering process, and start and stop rendering. The horizontal bar next to the window shows the rendering progress. Note: Some effects (Classic effects) always require rendering. For realtime effects ­ and depending on your system's performance ­ the computations are sometimes too time- and resource-intensive to be done in realtime (for example, when multiple effects are applied simultaneously). In this case, the effects are still rendered and the results are then written to a separate file. Chapter Introduction 1-9 PINN ACL E Keyboard Shortcuts Finally, Pinnacle Liquid has many functions that can be executed via the keyboard. It is even possible to customize the key assignments ­ i.e. to assign functions to keys ­ to match your own personal preferences and requirements. For example, if you're used to using specific keyboard shortcuts from another program, simply configure these shortcuts in Pinnacle Liquid. In the User's Guide, we will occasionally refer to the keyboard shortcuts for specific functions. These shortcuts are based on the default keyboard assignment. As soon as you customize the keys to suit your own needs, you may find that you can't execute certain functions as described in the User's Guide. The same applies here as to customizing the Toolbar: Be very conservative in your use of this option and, if at all possible, don't start changing assignments until you've read through the User's Guide. To view the commands that can be executed in the current module, click the Keyboard (Key Caps) icon in the Taskbar. Keyboard assignments for the desktop If you want to change the assignment: Select Pinnacle Liquid Menu Bar > Edit > Control Panel to open the Control Panel and then double-click Keyboard Settings to open a dialog box. In the Keyboard Settings dialog box, open the drop-down menu and select the module for which you want to change the assignment. Global Shortcuts indicates the commands that are available in each module. In the event of a duplicate assignment ­ module-specific and Global Shortcuts ­ the module-specific shortcut has priority. On the right side of the dialog box, a toolbox is displayed containing the functions represented as symbols. Use drag & drop to assign the functions to keys. 1 - 10 Chapter Introduction P INNACL E Drop-down menu Open/close the toolbox Chapter Introduction 1 - 11 PINN ACL E But First ... If you run Pinnacle Liquid with only one controllable device (generally a DV camcorder): As far as possible, Pinnacle Liquid functions independently of your equipment. Nevertheless, two important tools require settings that regulate interaction with your equipment and will be mentioned here. These are the Logging Tool (Capture), which processes video material played from your system, and the Record To Tape module. Differences exist between the Liquid Edition, Liquid Edition PRO and Liquid blue products. Because each product can also be operated in combination with different devices, the specific settings are beyond the scope of this User's Guide. At this point, we'll just briefly describe Media Management. Standards and Formats As far as the different Formats and standards are concerned, you should at least understand the background. The Formats are determined by four basic parameters: Resolution, Aspect Ratio, Frame Rate and Interlacing. Increasing the Resolution improves image quality. A higher resolution lets you show images in more detail, but may also reveal unwanted details. The Aspect Ratio refers to the traditional 4:3 format and the 16:9 (widescreen) format. 1 2 3 4 Connect the device. Switch on the device. Start your computer. Start Pinnacle Liquid. In nine cases out of ten, Windows automatically detects the device. The first time you start Pinnacle Liquid, the New Sequence dialog box opens automatically. Enter a suitable Name in the field provided and an appropriate Format under Edit Presets. Don't change the entries in the other fields; they represent default values for the particular Formats. The first four settings are followed by the abbreviation "CCIR", referring to an international standards committee. Avoid changing the Format unnecessarily. Create your Sequences using a uniform Format, play them in this Format and output them in this Format. See "Standards and Formats" on page 1-12. Some of the problems that can arise during the initial steps have to do with the settings related to your equipment. So take a little time to read the corresponding section in the Product Manual. 1 - 12 Chapter Introduction P INNACL E Many additional combinations are possible with Frame Rate and Interlaced/Non-interlaced. In this context, the second parameter refers to full-frame or field interlacing, as was formerly common in television standards. With full-frame interlacing, image sequences containing a lot of movement flow more smoothly. After examining the format options, determine the format(s) of your original material and consider your own purposes for outputting the fully edited Sequence later on. For example, if most of your original material was processed at a resolution of 720 x 576 pixels, it wouldn't make sense to choose a higher resolution for the Sequence because this would only have the appearance of improving the quality. The same is true of the Aspect Ratio: If almost all of the original material was filmed at a ratio of 4:3, stick with this ratio. Note that inserting elements with other Aspect Ratios results in black bars or a cropped image. Although there are a few such elements that can be incorporated in a Project, they should remain the exception. With regard to the Frame Rate, only one Timecodec System can be used in the current Sequence. Clips using a different Timecode System are played at the Sequence's Frame Rate. Frames are omitted or new Frames interpolated as necessary ­ one second is still one second. For all these reasons, you can take full advantage of HD video only if you use suitable material throughout. Large-format projections, such as those used for lectures, will turn out better. Preset Formats Chapter Introduction 1 - 13 PINN ACL E Media Management When you installed Pinnacle Liquid, you already defined a storage location for data you transfer to your system. You can look up these settings in the Media Management dialog box and modify them. Select Pinnacle Liquid Menu Bar > Edit > Control Panel > Site > Media Management Settings. Although a hard disk is a high-capacity storage medium, often one hard disk is not enough. "Drive" is a superordinate term for a data medium. Many computers now have several hard disks installed; Media Management Settings lets you administer these drives. See also "Alternative AV Drives/Directories" on page 3-18. Here you will find instructions on how to add drives. 1 - 14 Chapter Introduction P INNACL E Chapter 2 Quickstart Contents What Do You Want to Do?........................................................................................... 2-2 Step by Step ..................................................................................................................2-2 Inserting Clips on the Timeline .........................................................................................2-9 Output .........................................................................................................................2-20 Output with the RS 422 Control Protocol....................................................................... 2-22 General First a few preliminary remarks: This Quickstart chapter is intended to familiarize you with the basic functions of Pinnacle Liquid. In order to get the desired results, it's important that you follow the steps exactly. If you happen to hit a wrong key, button or menu click the Undo button to restore the previous state. Undo button It is assumed that your system is correctly configured, Pinnacle Liquid is installed and you have a play source (camera or recorder) plus one recorded tape and one blank tape. PINN ACL E Text in italics refers to the software (for example, Menu Bar > Tools) where ">" represents one step in a progression. Saving: With Pinnacle Liquid you don't need to give it a second thought because the Instant Save technology ensures that every single step and every change is saved immediately. 1 2 3 Transfer the material to your computer. Edit the material ­ for example, by trimming it and applying an effect. Output the material to a tape, SVCD or DVD. Note: While filming, you should already be concentrating on producing a consistent timecode and making sure you have a little extra material before and after your scenes. Leave the tape in the camera for as long as you want to continue recording more material and use short tapes. What Do You Want to Do? You want to cut your video material, edit it and then output it again. The workflow looks like this: Step by Step Before starting the software (by double-clicking the icon on the desktop), connect your camera (or your player or output device) and switch it on. If your device is a DV device, it will be detected automatically when you boot the software. After booting the software, you would normally either continue working on a Project you previously started or create a new Project. Let's do just that: 1 Select Pinnacle Liquid Menu Bar > File > New > Project. 2-2 Chapter Quickstart P INNACL E 2 In the dialog box displayed, enter a Project Name of your choice and click OK to confirm. We'll start out using the default template for this Project. We'll also retain the default storage location for the Project. Later on, you'll create your own templates. 5 Select Pinnacle Liquid Menu Bar > File > Input Wizard to open the Input Wizard. 3 Use the View Switcher to display the Timeline on the bottom and the Sequence Editor on top (see large figure, bottom right). Insert a (recorded) tape in your player. (For the steps that follow, it is assumed that you use a controllable DV device for playback.) Note: A Project is made up of Sequences, which are in turn made up of clips (video, audio, titles...). 6 4 For this example, click the top icon (with the video camera) in the Input Wizard; this icon represents playing a video device. The Select A Rack dialog box is displayed. Select New Rack to create a new Rack. Enter your name for your new Rack and then click Create. A Rack with this name is then added to the list in the Select A Rack dialog box. 7 8 9 10 Select this Rack and click Select. 11 The Logging Tool is now displayed. Chapter Quickstart 2-3 PINN ACL E 12 You are prompted to select a Reel. Because this is the first time, type in a name. Especially in the case of Projects where multiple tapes are used, it's important that you select a unique name that is significant for you. If appropriate, combine names and numbers (Spain1, Spain2), but never use the exact same name twice. If your DV cassette already has a name (such as Spain1), simply assign the same name to the Reel. Mark-in / mark-out 13 Click Apply and Close (checkmark). Glossary: Reel is simply the name of a signal source, usually a video cassette but it can also be a live TV signal. Glossary: The Mark-in is the starting point and the Markout is the end point. Be generous in your definition of clips so you'll have enough leeway later on when you trim. See "Leeway" on page 5-2. 14 Use the control buttons to shuttle the tape back and forth in the player. In addition to the buttons you're already familiar with from other devices ­ Play, Stop ­ you will also find a Shuttle button. 1 frame ahead/back Shuttle: Using the mouse, drag the slider in order to fast-forward or rewind 15 Set a Mark-in at the beginning of the scene and a Markout at the end. Try to create a clip that's about 20 seconds long. That will be sufficient for the exercises that follow. 2-4 Chapter Quickstart P INNACL E 13 Apply and Close View of Timeline and Sequence Editor Click eye to open menu 3 Chapter Quickstart 2-5 PINN ACL E 16 The Timecode fields below the Viewer contain the values for the Mark-in and Mark-out as well as the length of the clip you just defined. 17 Before selecting the audio channels, look at the Audio tab to see exactly what you're dealing with. Note: Mono audio clips are set to "Center" at the Master output (right and left channel played at the same volume). In the case of Stereo Audio Clips, the left/right distribution of the source material is of course retained. 20 You need to name the clip. Select the Clip tab and type in a name under Title. Register Audio 21 Click the checkbox to the right of the appropriate text box to add the entry to the Clip names. Click an individual plus sign to increment the count by one. If you activate automatic counting (double plus sign), numbering is performed automatically. 22 A field in the upper right-hand corner displays the Rack for the clips. 18 Should this clip be a video clip or an audio clip, or should it contain both? Activate the Source tracks by clicking V, A1 - A4 (yellow = active). The Audio tab shows input only for 1 and 2, only these Source tracks (V, A1, A2) can be digitized. Glossary: Source tracks ­ Tracks containing the original material. Note: Clicking the name of the field opens a list from which you can select an existing Rack. Double-clicking the icon opens a dialog box for creating a new Rack. Glossary: Rack ­ The place where clips are stored. 19 Mono or Stereo? One ring means Mono and two rings mean Stereo. If your camera records stereo sound, select Stereo. 2-6 Chapter Quickstart P INNACL E 18 20 22 21 16 15 19 Chapter Quickstart 2-7 PINN ACL E 23 Digitizing (capture): Click the Digitize button. The player goes to the Mark-in and starts digitizing the material, i.e. starts saving it to the hard disk that appears in the AV field when you move the mouse pointer across it. Digitize button. Button flashes red during the digitizing process. Move mouse across this field Read storage location here 24 Repeat Steps 14 to 23 until you have digitized a total of five clips. 25 Click the Exit button (running man) to exit the Logging Tool. 2-8 Chapter Quickstart P INNACL E Inserting Clips on the Timeline 26 In the Project Browser, click the Rack that you selected for your clips. If you're working with two monitors, use the View Switcher to select a view where one of the monitors displays the Project Window. Then perform the steps described below in the Project Window instead of the Project Browser. Source Viewer Open Project Browser Glossary: The Project Browser serves to administer clips and effects. Drag & drop: Click the clip to select it, hold down the left mouse button, drag the clip to the desired location and drop it. 27 Use the drag & drop method to drag the first digitized clip to the Source Viewer. As soon as the mouse pointer is located on the Source Viewer, another arrow appears next to it. You can now drop the clip. Chapter Quickstart 2-9 PINN ACL E 28 Use the control buttons to shuttle back and forth and set slightly more precise Mark-in and Mark-out points. 32 The clip is inserted on the Timeline and the Playline is positioned after the inserted clip. 29 Right-click the Source track mapping button to open this menu. Single-clicking the options activates (checked) or deactivates them. Set the options to match those in the figure below. Right-click here to open menu 33 If your screen looks a little different, it might be due to the Track view. To change the view, right-click the Track name to open the shortcut menu and select View. In our example, Head and Tail are activated (checkmark visible). This displays the first and last frame of a clip, as far as the Zoom Control permits. The audio and video clips are then automatically positioned on different Tracks. 34 Use the Zoom Control to adjust the Timeline scale so that the entire clip is visible. 30 Click the button between the viewers so that the yellow symbol indicating Film Style appears. 35 Repeat Steps 27 to 31 until all five digitized clips are positioned consecutively on the Timeline. 31 Click the Insert Arrow to insert the clip on the Timeline. 2 - 10 Chapter Quickstart P INNACL E Open/close Project Browser Source Viewer 31 30 28 34 33 Open shortcut menu Chapter Quickstart 2 - 11 PINN ACL E 36 Use the Zoom Control to adjust the Timeline scale so that all the clips are visible. Note: For simplicity's sake, we've inserted clips of the same type on the Timeline in Film Style. One Track contains the video clip and one Track contains the audio clip. 39 Click the first clip near the first edit. A yellow line now appears on the clip that serves as a handle. Using the mouse, drag the Handle at the end of the first clip in the direction of the beginning of the Timeline, thus trimming the clip. 40 In the next step, you'll trim the clip a little more precisely. To do so, click the appropriate button to open the Trim Editor. Note: A clip cannot be longer than the associated Media file. If the full length of the Media file is used (no Mark-in /out), we talk about Clip-in and Clip-out. Glossary: Tracks ­ In the example, the video information is contained in a video clip on one Track and the audio information is contained in a stereo audio clip on a second Track. The Source track labels are located to the left (V for video and S1 for stereo ­ corresponding to the clip, that is actually in the Source Viewer). 41 The Viewer on the left now contains the last frame of the 37 Your Timelime should now look something like this. Source track labels Outgoing clip and the Viewer on the right contains the first frame of the Incoming clip. The gradient bars below each Viewer indicate that trimming is currently being applied to both clips. On the Timeline, yellow handles appear on both sides of the Playline. Glossary: Outgoing clip ­ The clip that ends at this point. Incoming clip ­ The clip that starts at this point. 38 Make sure you're in Edit mode. The mouse pointer is accompanied by a filmstrip symbol. As you move it closer to the edits, this symbol changes to a mark-in or mark-out symbol. 2 - 12 Chapter Quickstart P INNACL E Gradient bar 40 Trim Editor 38 Yellow handles on both sides Chapter Quickstart 2 - 13 PINN ACL E 42 Click the image in the Viewer on the right so that you will be trimming only the right-hand clip. The gradient bar now appears under the right-hand Viewer only. 46 Open the Editors Rack in the Realtime Transition FX folder. Lib tab 43 Use the tool buttons to move the edit. Click the Trim 10 Frames Right button four times to move the Mark-in of the second clip (the Incoming clip). Click the middle tool button to display a Preview. In the default configuration, the Preview shows one second of the Outgoing clip and one second of the Incoming clip. Trim 10 Frames Right Rack Editors 47 Click the Dissolve CPU effect to select it, hold down the left mouse button and drag the effect to the edit between the first and second clips. The mouse pointer changes to a rectangle whose length corresponds to the length of the effect and is also accompanied by a plus sign. 48 Release the mouse button. A gray bar appears that repre44 Click the appropriate button once again to exit the Trim Editor. sents the Transition. If your system isn't powerful enough to display the effects in real time, rendering is performed and a pulsating sigma sign appears in the Taskbar. Note: Classic Effects, which correspond to and have the same names as the Realtime Effects, are always rendered. 45 In the Project Browser, click the tab to display the effects. The tab must now read Lib (for "Library"). 2 - 14 Chapter Quickstart P INNACL E 48 Chapter Quickstart 2 - 15 PINN ACL E Note: If part of the bar is red, this means there isn't enough leeway. (See "Leeway" on page 5-2.) In other words, the clips don't overlap enough to permit a Transition of this particular length. In this case, trim the clips as described in Step 39 (in Film Style ­ yellow symbol) until the entire bar is gray. You must drag the Mark-out handle of the first clip toward the beginning of the Timeline or the Mark-in handle of the second clip toward the end of the Timeline (i.e. to the right). Right-click the gray bar to open the shortcut menu 49 Use the Zoom Control to adjust the Timeline scale so that the next edit on the Timeline is also visible. Make sure you're still in Film Style, as indicated by the yellow symbol between the Viewers. 50 Now insert another effect using the 2D Editor CPU. Open the Editors Rack in the Classic Transition FX folder, hold down the left mouse button and drag the 2D Editor CPU to the edit between the second and third clips. Again, trim the clip until the bar is completely gray. 51 Right-click the gray bar (the effect) on the Timeline to open the 2D Editor CPU and from the shortcut menu displayed, select Edit (or double-click the effect). 2 - 16 Chapter Quickstart P INNACL E Film Style indicated by yellow symbol 50 51 Chapter Quickstart 2 - 17 PINN ACL E 52 If necessary, click the Goto Previous Keyframe button to jump to the beginning of the effect. If you're currently positioned in the middle of the Transition, a new Keyframe would be automatically generated by settings that you enter at this location. Note: The toolbar contains several useful buttons. Undo, Undo to initial state, Default 53 On the left-hand side of the 2D Editor, click the Size tab. For all Transitions, the settings you now enter are normally applied to the Incoming clip. That is exactly what you want to happen here. The Incoming clip should start out very small, then grow larger until it replaces the Outgoing clip. Undo reverses only the last step performed. Undo to initial state reverses all the steps performed since the editor was last opened, but does not affect any settings made previous to this last opening. Some editors have default values that can be restored by clicking the corresponding button. 54 Drag the slider to the left to set a size of about 15%. If your mouse has a mouse wheel, you can use it to enter a more precise setting. As long as the Lock function is activated (lock symbol), Height and Width will change simultaneously, i.e. will be scaled proportionally. The change in size is immediately visible in the viewer, meaning that you can adjust many settings by sight alone. To the right of the drop-down menus for effect parameters is a graphical representation of the parameter(s). Each parameter is displayed separately here because each individual parameter can have its own Keyframes. For instructions on working with this curve, see the Reference Manual. 55 Click the Exit Editor button (running man) to exit the 2D Editor. 56 Click the Play In to Out button to view the entire Sequence. If you haven't set a Mark-in or Mark-out on the Timeline, the entire Sequence is played back in a loop, i.e. from the first clip's Mark-in to the last clip's Mark-out. 2 - 18 Chapter Quickstart P INNACL E 53 54 The clip is immediately displayed in the viewer at the new size 55 You can also enter many settings by clicking the tool buttons to the right of the inlay 52 Chapter Quickstart 2 - 19 PINN ACL E Output 57 It's time to output the finished Sequence. Make sure a recording device with an blank tape is connected. 61 To output via DV-Out, the Render yellow slices option must be activated. Note: If the bottom line reads No recording device or contains the wrong device, click the arrow and select Edit Player to display a dialog box in which you can enter the appropriate settings. The entry at the bottom left designates the device used for output or the control protocol (in our example, 1394). Another entry may appear here. If the preset entry does not match your device, click the triangle to open a list and select another option. See "Output with the RS 422 Control Protocol" on page 2-22. 58 Select Pinnacle Liquid Menu Bar > File > Record to Tape. 59 In the Record to Tape dialog box, a status message such as STILL or STOP should appear above the inlay. If this says "DEVICE NOT READY", check the cables and make sure the device is switched on and ready to record. 62 Click Record. Everything else will happen automatically. You can monitor output in the inlay. The Playline follows along on the Timeline until the entire Sequence has been played. 63 As in other applications, click the "X" to exit Pinnacle 60 On the left side of this dialog box, the top list box should contain the text Entire Sequence. The name of the manufacturer of the recording device currently registered in the system may be displayed at the very bottom. Liquid. 2 - 20 Chapter Quickstart P INNACL E 58 63 56 Chapter Quickstart 2 - 21 PINN ACL E Output with the RS 422 Control Protocol The RS 422 control protocol offers options for output. Output can be performed by Insert or Assemble. Glossary: RS 422 ­ A standard for transmitting serial data over medium distances (up to 300 m). RS 422 interfaces are extremely common in professional video technology and are used to control devices remotely. Assemble Assemble allows you to record on a tape that was not completely precoded (striped). The tape recorder continues writing the Timeline timecode. No segments can be inserted by means of Assemble, since the exit at the mark-out most probably includes breaks in the control track. As a rule, code for a few minutes or even just seconds at the beginning of the tape to enable a correct cut-in scene. Should the recording be interrupted, you have to continue within the coded range. As is the case with Dump To Tape, this option offers no track selection, i.e. all tracks available on the machine are overwritten. Insert If you select Insert, you must activate the relevant Tracks manually. In this case, "Tracks" does not refer to Audio Source Tracks or Timeline Tracks, but to those tracks that are actually in the relevant video format and supplied by the recorder. The particular options available for selection depend on the features of the recorder selected in the Player Settings dialog box. Example: You have already output a particular Project to your tape. Now you just need to replace a small dubbed Sequence. In this case, select Insert and apply it only to the corresponding Audio Tracks. The tape to which you output the sequence must be the same, i.e. the Timecode of your Timeline must exactly correspond to the tape's Timecode. Of course, the Timeline can also be configured accordingly. 2 - 22 Chapter Quickstart P INNACL E Chapter 3 Recording AV Contents General .........................................................................................................................3-2 What You Need (Checklist).......................................................................................... 3-3 Step by Step ..................................................................................................................3-4 Plus ... .........................................................................................................................3-10 LIVE Player............................................................................................................... 3-10 Analog IN ................................................................................................................ 3-12 Direct Insertion ........................................................................................................ 3-14 Tracks and Mapping ................................................................................................... 3-15 Tips .............................................................................................................................3-16 Tape Has Identical TCs ............................................................................................... 3-16 Breaks in the Timecode .............................................................................................. 3-17 Alternative AV Drives/Directories ................................................................................. 3-18 When to Digitize As Stereo and When As Mono?............................................................. 3-20 Methods: Log, Digitize All or Scene Detection? .............................................................. 3-21 Batch Digitize (Capture)............................................................................................. 3-21 Automatic Scene Detection in the Logging Tool ............................................................. 3-22 PINN ACL E General You want to transfer video and audio material from a play source to your Pinnacle Liquid system hard disk(s) (capture procedure, Digitize). Solution: The Pinnacle Liquid Logging Tool provides you with all the necessary functions. Note: This tutorial describes only one of several possible ways to reach the goal. To make optimal use of the Logging Tool - i.e. to tailor it to your own needs - we recommend that you read the Reference Manual ("Input" chapter). 3-2 Chapter Recording AV P INNACL E What You Need (Checklist) Is your player (such as a camera) connected and ready to operate? See Product Manual. Check cable connections. Check storage capacity of AV hard disk(s): One hour of DV (standard resolution in 4:3) with audio requires 13 gigabytes. If necessary, delete old material. Note: From time to time, check the degree of fragmentation of your hard disk(s) and defragment (see Windows manual). Carefully label or number tapes (in Pinnacle Liquid: Reels) (Pinnacle Liquid Media Management requires unique Reel names!). Each Reel name can occur only once! Tip: Combine name with the day's date. Is the player configured correctly? If you have any doubts, look under Pinnacle Liquid Menu Bar > Edit > Control Panel > Site > Player Settings > Connections > i.Link DV . Glossary: Reel ­ Tape; every source must have a name. In the example, we use a DV camcorder as a player. In this case, Communication Port must be set to IEEE 1394, Video Input set to 1394 and Audio Input set to DV Embedded. Glossary: IEEE 1394 ­ Standard for fast serial data transmission. Embedded ­ The audio signal is contained in the digital signal. If playback is analog, select the appropriate analog inputs. Also consider the video format ­ 4:3 or 16:9, PAL or NTSC, resolution ­ and configure your Sequence accordingly. See "Standards and Formats" on page 1-12. Chapter Recording AV 3-3 PINN ACL E Step by Step 1 2 Insert your first tape and press F6 to start the Logging Tool. The top left-hand area contains the - Timecode display - Indicates the player's current TC position; - Status field - STOP means the device with the tape is ready for operation. DEVICE NOT READY means that communication between the player and Pinnacle Liquid is not operating. Is the device switched on and plugged in? - Reel name dialog box. Enter a Reel name. You will not be able to change this name later on. Now enter a Rack, i.e. a "container" in which clips will be stored. Later on, you can distribute the clips to other Racks. At this point, either select an existing Rack from the list (click the field) or create a new Rack as follows: First click the icon in this same field to open a dialog box, then enter a name for the Rack and click Create. You have selected the Reel and the Rack. Now check the storage location that was specified for media files during installation. To do so, rest the mouse pointer on the capacity indicator to display the directory path. Media files contain the video and audio data for the clips. Click the capacity indicator to display a list of possible AV drives and directories (if any). For instructions on how to configure a new drive or directory for digitizing AV data, refer to the tip under "Alternative AV Drives/Directories" on page 3-18. Note: Once all but 20 percent of your hard disk's remaining capacity has been used, be careful. The fuller the disk, the lower the performance, especially if your hard disk is highly fragmented. Also note that additional files may be created during editing (for example, as a result of effect rendering and functions such as Fuse and Consolidate). 3 Note: Every clip that you log and/or digitize is defined by a Reel name, a clip Timecode-in and a clip TC-out. This means that problems will arise if the same timecode (TC) occurs more than once on a Reel. This can happen if the TC counter returns to 00:00:00.00 several times (for example, because you removed the tape). If you have a tape like this: See "Tips" on page 3-16. 4 3-4 Chapter Recording AV P INNACL E 2 6 Timecode display 2 Status field Create rack 3 3 Select rack 3 Assign reel name 2 Source tracks 5 6 Stereo/Mono 4 Capacity indicator 5 Select the Source tracks that you want to digitize. The Source tracks can include one Video (V) and up to four Audio (A) tracks on the tape. Now you have to specify whether you want to log or digitize the clips as Stereo or Mono. Mono (symbol: One ring): One audio clip is generated for A1 and one for A2. In Pinnacle Liquid, Mono clips are always set to "Center" at the master audio output, meaning that they are played at the same volume on CH-1 and CH-2. 6 Stereo (symbol: Two rings): A1 and A2 are written to one audio clip. In Pinnacle Liquid, Stereo clips are always set to left (A1 -> CH-1) and right (A2 -> CH-2) at the master audio output. Should you select Stereo or Mono? See "When to Digitize As Stereo and When As Mono?" on page 3-20. 7 8 Is everything correct? Confirm the settings. Now you're ready to go: Press Play to start the tape. Use the control buttons to cue up the tape to the Mark-in point. The Mark-in is the start of the clip (or of the "take", "scene", etc.). Chapter Recording AV 3-5 PINN ACL E