Avid® EDL Manager User’s Guide Release 9.0 for the Windows NT® Operating System a tools for storytellers™ © 1995-1996, 1998-1999 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Avid EDL Manager User’s Guide for the Windows NT Operating System • Part 0130-04226-01 Rev. A • August 1999 2 Contents Chapter 1 Working with EDLs EDLs and the EDL Manager. 9 Online and Offline Editing. 9 What the EDL Manager Does . 9 Starting EDL Manager. 10 Using Help. 11 Creating or Reading an EDL . 11 Creating an EDL from a Sequence in a Bin, Existing EDL, or OMFI File . 12 Creating an EDL from an Active Sequence . 14 Reading an Existing EDL from an RT-11 Disk . 14 Saving an EDL. 15 Saving an EDL as a Text File or an OMFI Composition . 15 Saving an EDL to an RT-11 Disk . 16 Verifying an RT-11 Save . 17 Formatting an RT-11 Disk . 17 Printing an EDL . 19 Copying an EDL Between Storage Locations . 19 Using EDL Manager with Your Avid Editing System. 20 Creating an EDL from the Active Sequence . 21 Creating a Sequence from an EDL. 21 Viewing a List of Tapes in the Source Table . 22 3 Chapter 2 Customizing EDLs EDL Manager Option Settings . 25 Changing Settings in the EDL Manager Window . 25 Changing the Title of an EDL . 26 Defining Video Tracks and Audio Channels. 27 Including or Excluding Specific Tracks. 28 Redefining a Track. 28 Combining or Isolating Tracks . 30 Creating Stereo Channels. 31 Choosing a Format for the Audio Channels . 31 Displaying Different Views of an EDL . 31 Selecting a Template for the EDL. 32 File Names in the Template Pop-up Menu . 32 Opening a Template . 33 Adjusting the Source and Output Timecodes . 33 Updating an EDL with EDL Manager Window Changes . 35 Changing Settings in the Options Window . 36 Selecting an Edit Controller Format . 37 Sorting the Order of Events . 39 Setting Up a Master List . 41 Setting Up a Dupe List. 43 Using the Preread Option. 45 Showing or Hiding Comments and Other Information . 45 The Effects Info Comment . 47 The Repair Notes Comment . 47 Optimizing the EDL . 48 Optimization Considerations . 49 Setting Up Standards . 49 Setting the Record Start Time. 51 Saving Options to a Template File. 51 Changing Serial Transfer Options in the Site Settings Dialog Box . 52 4 Chapter 3 Editing and Troubleshooting EDLs Using a Text Editor to Edit an EDL . 54 Fitting the Format to the EDL Manager . 54 Changing the Header Format . 55 Removing Problems Caused by Complex Sequences. 56 Using the Console Window to Display Messages . 56 Fixing Difficult Transitions. 58 Locating Trouble Spots . 58 Slicing and Dicing . 58 Trying One Track at a Time . 59 Avoiding Problems in EDLs. 59 Simplifying Effects . 59 Looking for Missing Information . 60 Dealing with Corruptions . 60 Appendix A Check List for Online Editing Calling Ahead to the Online Suite . 62 Deciding What to Take to the Online Suite . 63 Take EDL Manager . 63 Take the EDL in Several Forms . 63 Take Reference Information . 63 Double-Checking the EDL File Names . 64 Appendix B Creating EDLs for Film Projects Matchback Conversion in Film-to-Video EDLs . 65 Creating EDLs for a Matchbacked Sequence . 66 Creating Audio-Only EDLs . 67 Appendix C Using Serial Transmission to Transfer EDLs Connecting the Edit Controller to the Computer. 68 Setting Serial Transmission Options . 69 Transmitting the EDL . 70 5 Appendix D Using Help Opening and Closing the Help System . 72 How Help Windows Work . 73 Finding Information with the Help Topics Dialog Box . 74 Using the Contents Tab . 74 Using the Index Tab . 75 Using the Find Tab . 75 Using Buttons in a Help Topic. 76 Accessing Information from the Help Menu. 77 Using Context-Sensitive Help . 78 Help for Windows and Dialog Boxes . 78 Help for Screen Objects . 79 Printing Help Topics . 79 Copying Information from a Help Topic. 80 Changing the Font Size of Help Topics . 80 Glossary Index 6 Tables Table 2-1 Source and Output Timecodes . 35 Table 2-2 Formats and Audio Channels . 38 Table 2-3 EDL Sort Modes . 40 Table 2-4 Master List Options . 41 Table 2-5 Dupe List Options . 43 Table 2-6 Show Options . 46 Table 2-7 Optimization Options . 48 Table 2-8 Standards Options . 50 Table C-1 Serial Transfer Options . 70 Table D-1 Help Topic Buttons . 76 Table D-2 Help Menu Choices . 77 7 CHAPTER 1 Working with EDLs This chapter introduces edit decision lists (EDLs) and provides instructions for basic EDL Manager procedures. It includes the following sections: • EDLs and the EDL Manager • Starting EDL Manager • Using Help • Creating or Reading an EDL • Saving an EDL • Formatting an RT-11 Disk • Printing an EDL • Copying an EDL Between Storage Locations • Using EDL Manager with Your Avid Editing System • Viewing a List of Tapes in the Source Table 8 EDLs and the EDL Manager An edit decision list (EDL) is a list of instructions for all the edits you make for creating a program on videotape. This list might include cuts, wipes, dissolves, fades, and black edits. The EDL Manager application organizes the instructions as a series of chronological edits called events. Each event specifies a timecode for the source and master tapes. Online and Offline Editing In most cases, you generate an EDL to take a project from the offline editing environment, where rough editing and experimentation are less expensive, into the online.