Most Post production facilities will have a way of labelling drives that come in that will insist of a code on a sticker. This is used to identify each drive and make logging them in easier. This can also be useful when naming the documents during the media copy stage
Plug relevant drives into your machine. It's best practise to create an HTML of the drive you will be backing up before you Ingest/Copy for record keeping.
Snap2HTML Download link: https://www.rlvision.com/downloads.php?dl=snap_2_html
Open Snap2HTML > Click Root folder > Navigate to drive you want to back up > Tick include hidden items and include system items.
TreeSize:
Customise export and choose HTML ensure pie chart is deselected under exported elements and folders and single files is enabled.
Name using the appropriate naming conventions.
Open Shot Put Pro and choose where you want to copy the media to and create a new folder using the appropriate naming conventions.
Drag media into the offload panel
Repeat for necessary media
Place the folder you created into the ‘offload to’ and press begin
Always backup from top level. Once it’s done, a report is generated at the same location as the media. For safety, compare the size of the copied media with the original media on the drive. Close ShotPutPro and disconnect any drives safely.
Select all media on the drive (CTRL/ Command A) and copy media (CTRL/Command C)
CTRL/Command N to open a new finder/ file explorer window and navigate to where you would want to copy all your media to.
CTRL/Command V and choose Teracopy if that is an option.
Once all the media has been copied over, compare the size to make sure it's the same.
Open the avid project
Change your media creation settings to point to the drive that you would like to store any renders/ Avid Media Files
Go to File> Settings> Project> Media Creation> Render> Video Drive
Create a folder using the correct naming convention.
Then a folder within named after the shoot date then a bin in there named after the card name.
AMA link by holding down alt and dragging footage into the bin or go to source browser and AMA link via this way
Tools >Source Browser
If bringing in graphics, enable matte
File> Settings > User> Link> Link Options> Set Alpha channel settings
Copy the name of the bin to the disk label and Reel
Reformat change all clips to letterbox/ Pillarbox
Check colour management to make sure there are no LUTs
Name the TapeID after the name of the Drive
Highlight all the clips in the bin, right click and select transcode/ consolidate
Keep source frame rate - DNxHD LB
Then transcode to the correct drive.
Once transcoded, delete the AMA links and watch a few to make sure there are no issues.
Repeat for all cards.
Once done, navigate to the Avid Media Files location and rename the MXF folder. This is not necessary however it helps seal off that folder and makes for an organised Media folder.
Complete Ingest log if necessary.
Inform the Editor
Click on the bin you want to supply, right click and reveal the file. This should open up in file explorer
CTRL C or right click copy the file.
CTRL N or open a new tab/ file explorer window and navigate to the project you would like to supply the bin to.
CTRL V and this should copy the bin into the project.
If they do not have access to the drive with the AvidMedia Files, you will need to copy that folder to them as well using the same method. Check on their machine or unmount your drives and mount theirs to make sure that the bin contents has relinked to the media files. If not, see Trouble shooting for help.
Create a new folder and call it Sync_maps This will be the folder you use for all sync maps in the project. In the Sync Map folder create a dated folder and create 3 bins with the following names inside:
date_autosequences
date_syncmap
date_groups
Make sure that the audio is centered: File> Settings> User> Audio
Navigate to the rushes you want to sync
Organise the clips by Start timecode
CTRL/Command A then right click and auto-sequence.
This creates a sequence and puts all the media files onto a timeline according to TC.
Rename the auto-sequenced sequence to the bin name.
Move this autosequence to the date_autosequences bin
Go through and repeat for all bins with the same date.
Open the date_autosequences bin, go through the auto-sequences and expand to reveal audio waves on the TL
Go through and carefully delete any audio tracks that don’t have audio waves. Only delete in pairs.
Delete any data tracks (Any ‘D’ tracks)
Organise the auto-sequences by start time column and duplicate the sequence with the earliest TC
Rename this sequence to date_syncmap then move this to the date_syncmap bin
Open the date_syncmap sequence and organise the TL.
Rename the tracks according to the camera e.g V1 becomes FX9 A CAM and audio tracks. You can also rename this to the auto-sequence name if it's not too clear which camera is which.
Get the next autosequence TL according to the Start TC and drag it onto the source video.
Mark an in point on the source video. Find that TC on the syncmap and mark an in point. If it doesn’t exist, drag to the end of TL and mark an inpoint to extend the TL then mark an inpoint on the correct TC. You can type the start TC onto the TL and hit enter to jump to that TC.
Create new tracks and hit B to overwrite. Deselect on the side. Right click > Select > To the right. This will select the tracks you want to sync up from the clip you have selected to everything to the right and CTRL to drag.
Right click composer settings always allows two rows of date.
Use the audio tab to check that all audio tracks are moving at the same time.
Repeat this for the rest of the autosequences making sure to sync them as you go.
Each company does onboardings differently this depends on if there is IT involved, if it's in person or fully remote.
Make sure that media creation settings are pointing to the correct drive
File > Settings > Project> Media Creation or CTRL 5
Check audio settings
File > Settings > User > Audio
Check that footage is playable and nothing is offline.
Never use titler plus as it has problems with making media go offline.
When opening the avid project, hold ‘alt’ to avoid bins opening
Create a new bin in the appropriate folder with the appropriate name
Duplicate sequence and place in the new bin (Incase you accidentally nudge something on the main timeline)
Double click the sequence to open the timeline
Right click on the timeline, go to select then offline clips. If there are offline clips on the timeline then you will have to look to see why they are offline (See troubleshooting offline clips TBC)
If there are no offline clips a window will pop up letting you know.
Make sure that the audio output settings are set the way you want them to export. Go to File> Settings > Audio > Centred/Alternating left and right - If the audio has been mixed then export as alternating left/ right.
To add BITC use CTRL/ Command Y to add a new video track then CTRL/ Command 8 to bring up the effect palette and search for the timecode and drag it onto the empty track on the timeline. Ask if whoever is receiving would need a BITC or not.
Press CTRL/ Command 3 to bring up the Command Pallet and on the timecode you can use this to change the appearance of the timecode to suit your needs.
Font size 52
Opacity 0.5
Position: X= -444 Y= -444 (Top left)
To export, right click on sequence or go to File> Output> Export to file
MOV - Project Raster - 1080 x 1920 - 25fps - H264 - 8Mbs - Rec 709 - Standard audio settings - Stereo - 380 - 48 , untick Constant bit rate
1280 x 720 then drop target bit rate to 3Mbps
Pick where you would want to export to. Best practise to name the export after the sequence name and add _BITC if applicable at the end
Once an export is complete and you are uploading to an online video platform, there are a few ways to check to make sure that you have exported correctly.
AMA link the export into your avid bin and double click to display in the source monitor.
Watch the first 2 minutes through making sure that the audio is in sync
Srub through the TL till you are a quatar in and watch 1 minute
Then scrub check until you are halfway through and watch a minute in
Continue with the rest watching 1 minute 3 quaters in, scrubbing and then watching the last 2 minutes.
This is the most effective way I have found to pick up on things such as, correct BITC, out of sync audio/ audio drop out, black holes and render errors.
Best practice is to send the link to the export and the password in separate emails in case you accidentally email the link to the wrong person then they won’t have access. Always check with who you are working with first to understand what they prefer.