Avid Editors - Favorite Tips and Tricks!

Here's the place to list all your favorite (and often little-known) Avid Tricks. Many already know these tricks, but many don't. (Hey moderators - make this into a sticky, no?)

I'll start.

1. Alt Key on project Startup. When starting a project that had a bunch of huge bins open when you closed it, it's going to take forever to load. Click on the project name and hit enter. Now hold the ALT key. Your project loads with all the bins closed!

2. Quick Transitions Bin. Not the most used trick in my workflow, but it turns heads every time. Create a new bin. Put it anywhere, who cares. Name it (very specifically, and case-sensitive) "Quick Transitions". Let's say you are Alfonso Cuaron and really dig your black, soft-edged elipse wipes. Create one, and drag the effect into this bin. Now, EVERY time you hit the dissolve key on your keyboard, your fancy, custom effect is listed in the standard dissolve dialog!!!

3. ScriptSync formatting. Alright, not exactly an Avid trick, but still great. You get a script in MS Word form and need to get it into the Avid to use its internal scripting functions. But the script isn't a txt file, and even if it is saved as such, it's filled with run-on sentences a gazillion miles long. Simply open it in MS Word, hit Save As, then save it as "Plain Text". A "File Conversion" window will pop up. Check the box called "Insert Line Breakes" and make sure it is set to end lines with CR/LF. Whammo! It's formatted with all the same nice line breaks seen in MS Word.

Come on folks, show us your tricks!

 Here's one that's been around for a while but seems to be not too well known: insert new track. To insert a new track in other than the top most position, create the new track with CTRL+ALT+y (CMD+OPT+y for Mac). An "add track" dialog box comes up where you can select video or audio and determine the exact position in the stack for the new track.

These are two newest I've discovered and been using (a lot!):

Alt+Z and Alt+X lift and cut the material from the timeline (as expected), but puts it in the source monitor.  Perfect for shuffling tracks and moving stuff around in a sequence.

If you're zoomed in and want to see the whole timeline:  Ctrl+/ resets it.

Michael.

A lot of the ALT-stuff. ALT-MarkClip to place Marks at the closest cuts, indepent of selected tracks.
 ALT-AddEdit adds edits to all layers that don't contain clips at that point. ALT-MatchFrame finds source material in a sequence.

Another way to use ALT+ is this:

Press and hold ALT and drug your effect (saved in your "Effect Bin") on a clip already with another effect; the last one will be placed on a upper layer.

Bye

Roberto

I've learn't a couple of things here.. this is great keep them coming!!
Another Alt+ tip would be when you're trying to insert an effect over 2 clips that already have an effect and are transitioned together. Select/highlight both effects in the timeline, hold down ALT and double click on the effect and presto.. you have an additional effect linking the 2 clips together.

Very useful if you're heavy effects oriented.

Cheers,

Paul

To apply an effect globally across several segments containing other effects, for example creating a PIP fly over effect of a string of images with transitions between them, segment highlight the "string" of clips in the timeline and ALT double click the effect you want to apply globally. This will create a submaster clip across that region of the timeline, which you can step into like any other effects nest. This is another one that has been around for ages but is not too well known.

Paul:

Looks like we both had the same idea at the same time!

Remove multiple effects (like dissolves) in a timeline

Park on a dissolve, go into effects editor, lasso all the dissolves, hit dele.

A trick rather than a favourite that I have not used in a long while

Audio Frame by Frame

if you want to hear your audio frame by frame, hold down "k" and then "L" together....in that order.

Nice, AA. 

There are times when I want to edit on the field, rather than on the frame. To do this I use my specially prepared SuperImpose FX wherein the first KF is 0 and the second (and last) KF is 100. If this effect is placed on the ending frame of a 1-frame overlapped edit it will "extend" the outgoing shot by 1 field. Good for getting the most out of archival footage with too-tight edits. It can also be used to place a subliminal or 1-field flash over any scene.

To make your own, set it up in a 2-frame clip before saving to your FX bin.

Neat trick itmatters Thanks

hi L is used to Zoom In & Zoom Out.

hi L is used to Zoom In & Zoom Out.

itmatters:

Nice, AA. 

There are times when I want to edit on the field, rather than on the frame. To do this I use my specially prepared SuperImpose FX wherein the first KF is 0 and the second (and last) KF is 100. If this effect is placed on the ending frame of a 1-frame overlapped edit it will "extend" the outgoing shot by 1 field. Good for getting the most out of archival footage with too-tight edits. It can also be used to place a subliminal or 1-field flash over any scene.

To make your own, set it up in a 2-frame clip before saving to your FX bin.

Now that is a cool tip.  Might cause QC issues, but very cool.