Importing Video Files

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Bringing video material into Pro Tools is very simple. Making sure that the video material is of the proper format and type for your needs might not be that simple. If QuickTime movies are provided for you in data format on DVDs, CD-ROMs, or hard drives , then importing them directly can be quick and painless. If you are provided with videotape and cannot sync to the VTR directly, then you'll have to digitize the footage yourself and create a compatible QuickTime movie. Even if you can sync directly to this VTR, you may still want to digitize the footage in order to take advantage of the non-linear aspect of QuickTime movies in Pro Tools. With VTRs, you must locate the deck to different locations in your session. QuickTime movies locate instantly to any location in your session and remain in frame-accurate sync with your session no matter what type of editing you're doing. Wherever your cursor is, the QuickTime movie will instantly locate to that position.

Keep in mind that the larger-size QuickTime movies (720x480) can use more system resources. This may limit the amount of RTAS plug-ins and audio tracks you can use. Most new Macs can view DV movies natively and do not tax the CPU. The DV codec does not require any large amount of CPU time to decompress; hardware on the motherboard handles this and frees the CPU up for DSP. However, the file sizes are quite large and may require a dedicated hard drive.

DV movies look great and are easy to digitize with iMovie, Final Cut Pro, or Virtual VTR (www.gallery.co.uk). In addition, Pro Tools 6.0 in OSX will direct the DV stream out through a FireWire connection to which you can hook up your DV camera. Certain cameras are able to pass the DV information directly to their video output connector for use with a full-size monitor. This is great because you can view hi-resolution video on a full-size monitor and you can even connect multiple monitors if needed. The movie will instantly locate to any position and will be frame-accurate. What more could you want?

Opening QuickTime Movies

Once a properly formatted QuickTime movie has been created, importing it into Pro Tools is relatively easy. Select Import Movie from the Movie menu, as shown in Figure 4.15. A dialog box will open that allows you to find the correct QuickTime file. Once you have selected a file and hit the Import button, a new track will be created in Pro Tools with the same name as the QuickTime file. The track defaults to the Key Frames mode, in which frames of video are displayed in the timeline for easy location reference. The use of this mode is processor- intensive ; to conserve CPU resources, you can switch to Block mode. The movie track behaves similarly to an audio track and can be moved around by the grabber and placed using Grid or Spot mode. It is not possible to trim or edit the movie file.

Figure 4.15. Movie > Import Movie. Allows you to import QuickTime movies into Pro Tools.

Once you have opened the QuickTime movie, press Play and have a look. If you start play before the movie start time, you will see the first frame frozen onscreen until the movie start time has been reached. Similarly, when the end of the QuickTime movie arrives, the last frame will be frozen while Pro Tools continues to play. Often the first and last frames are black, so this may not be noticeable, but when there is an image present you might wonder if the movie is "online" or not.

Once you have imported a QuickTime movie, it is possible to disable video playback temporarily without deleting the video track. Under the Movie menu, check Movie Online (cmd+shift+j) to toggle the movie's status from online to offline. Taking the movie offline can be helpful when working on very small areas of audio because it frees up the system to work a little faster. Depending on your CPU, this could be very importantespecially on native LE systems ( like Mbox, 001, 002). You can also hide the video track just like any other track in Pro Tools, helping to keep the clutter down. Hiding the video track in the Edit window does not disable video playback features but does free up some system resources.

Capturing DV Video from Tape

If you must capture DV video yourself you'll need a separate application (such as iMovie, Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere, or Virtual VTR) and a DV playback device such as a Mini DV camcorder with a FireWire connection (Sony calls it iLink). Digidesign's AV Option for Pro Tools can also capture video, but this book is concerned with the Pro Tools application without this additional add-on. Digidesign also provides support for video capture; suffice it to say, Digidesign's AV Option is very capable and has numerous other features besides video capture capabilities.

NOTE

TIME CODE BURN-IN WINDOWS

A visual representation of the SMPTE time in the video itself can be quite useful. A visual representation can be generated by certain devices that will take an incoming SMPTE time code source and display the numbers within a video signal, typically at the bottom of the screen in a black area called a burn-in window . QuickTime is capable of displaying time code in this fashion. Using the Virtual VTR application is the only way I have enabled this feature in QuickTime. Simply open any movie file in Virtual VTR and under the Playback menu select Reset Timecode Reference and a dialog box will open that allows you to set the starting frame number, the frame rate, and the position of the time code display, as shown in Figure 4.16. Once you have enabled this time code window, it will be seen whenever that movie is played , regardless of the application usedVirtual VTR, QuickTime Player, or Pro Tools.

Virtual VTR software non-linear video player. This application can play back QuickTime movies synchronized to MTC or 9-pin control. It also has the unique ability to create time code burn-in windows directly in QuickTime.

Capturing DV Video with iMovie

iMovie is a consumer-level , video-editing software for Macintosh. It supports the DV codec as its native format for video. The iMovie interface is simple and lacks many pro features such as time code support. iMovie will run under OS9 or OSX, and is capable of digitizing DV video and editing clips with frame accuracy. Without the time code support, though, it will be necessary to have some other time information within the video itself. This could take the form of a time code burn-in window or a "5, 4, 3, 2 " countdown with a 2-beep. Either of these will allow you to place the DV file at the correct time in Pro Tools.

Following are the steps to take in order to digitize DV video with iMovie:

Locate the video you want to digitize on tape.
Launch iMovie
Create a new Movie project by choosing File > New Project . The new project will open up with the Capture Clips mode ready.
Connect your playback device via FireWire to the computer.
Play the source material either using iMovie's controls or manually on your playback device.
Click the Import button when you want to start digitizing, as shown in Figure 4.17.

Figure 4.17. The iMovie Clip Capture window. Here, you can digitize DV video from a FireWire playback device and export the clip for use in Pro Tools.
Click the Import button again when you would like to stop digitizing.

Once you have digitized the video you want to work with, you'll see it as a slide in the first clip window. While in the Clip Editor, you can trim the clip down to the proper starting and ending frames by dragging on the tabs found in the timeline of the Clip Edit window, as shown in Figure 4.18.

Figure 4.18. The clip-editing tabs in iMovie. Use the two lower tabs below the start and end of the yellow section to define the start and end points of your movie clip.

Next , drag the clip from its window in the upper left down to the timeline at the bottom of the iMovie window. This places the clip in the timeline. Once the edited clip is in the timeline, choose Export from the File menu and select To QuickTime from the iMovie:Export dialog box, as shown in Figure 4.19. The Format choice depends on what type of file you want to work with. To use the hi-quality of DV, select Full Quality DV as your format for export. You will then be allowed to name the file and perform the export. Now you have a QuickTime DV file that can be imported by Pro Tools and synchronized with your audio session.

Figure 4.19. The iMovie: Export dialog box. Here you can determine the file type of an exported movie file from iMovie.

NOTE

DETERMINING THE FIRST FRAME

When using iMovie to digitize video, it is not possible to be frame-accurate when digitizing. You must have a time code burn-in or some sort of timing information such as a 2-beep or video countdown to determine what is the first frame of program material. You can trim the digitized video in iMovie so that the first frame of the QuickTime movie is the correct one. My advice is to capture more video than you think you'll need in order to allow for proper trimming once it is digitized.

Capturing DV Video with Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro is a professional-level video editing software capable of digitizing DV video from FireWire sources such as consumer and professional Mini DV camcorders with an IEEE 1394 (FireWire or iLink) interface. It is possible to frame-accurately digitize video using DV's built-in time code, as long as your playback device supports time-code addressing (most MiniDV camcorders do). Digitizing in Final Cut Pro is a bit complicated because of its enhanced accuracy.

Following is a step-by-step method for capturing video using Final Cut Pro:

First connect your FireWire playback device to the computer and turn it to playback or VCR mode.
Launch Final Cut Pro.
Make sure your audio/video settings are correct. Select File, Audio/Video Settings, as shown in Figure 4.20. The Sequence and Capture presets should both be set to DV NTSC 48kHz. The Device Control should be set to FireWire NTSC. These are typically the default settings. The External Video setting does not apply for capturing.

Figure 4.20. The Audio/Video Settings window in Final Cut Pro. These settings are correct for digitizing DV video from a consumer camcorder or other FireWire, DV playback device.
Once the camera is connected and Final Cut is configured, select File, Log, and Capture. The Log and Capture window will open as seen in Figure 4.21.

Figure 4.21. The Log and Capture window in Final Cut Pro 2.
In this window, remote-control the connected playback device in order to locate the segment of video you want to digitize. The left slider shuttles the device both forwards and backwards , and the wheel on the right can jog the device in very small increments down to one frame. The time code display in the upper right tells you where on the tape you are currently located. You may type a specific time code value into this box, hit Enter, and the device will locate to that tape position.
Set a start point for the digitizing to begin. This can be done in two ways:If you know the correct frame number to start digitizing on, you may type it into the lower left-hand time code window or locate to the correct position and click the Mark In button, as shown in Figure 4.22.

Figure 4.22. The Mark In button in the Log and Capture window of Final Cut Pro.
Once you have set an In point, an Out point must be set in order to capture the video. Either type a specific time code number into the time code value by the Mark Out button or locate the playback device to that point and press the Mark Out button in the Log and Capture window, as shown in Figure 4.23.

Figure 4.23. The Mark Out button in Final Cut Pro.
Now that you have defined both an In and Out point, press the Clip capture button in the far lower right of the Log and Capture window, as shown in Figure 4.24. This will begin the digitizing process.

Figure 4.24. The Clip capture button in Final Cut Pro's Log and Capture Window.
You'll be prompted to name the clip; go ahead and do so. Remember the name in order to find it in the browser later.
The playback device will cue to a point ahead of the In point in order to pre-roll the tape. Playback will begin, and when the In point is reached, Final Cut Pro will digitize the video clip and store it on your hard drive. When the Out point is reached, digitizing will stop. The process is frame-accurate and no video outside of the defined points will be recorded.
Once your clip has been digitized, you can place it in the timeline to prepare for exporting. Look in the Browser window for the clip name you just digitized. If this is a new Final Cut project, then it should be one of two items listed in the project Browser window. The other item will be the blank sequence (Sequence 1) you will use next.
Drag the clip from the Browser window to the blank sequence timeline, where you will see three tracks appear with the clip in them, as shown in Figure 4.25. The tracks are video (V1), audio left (A1), and audio right (A2). Make sure you drag the clip to the very start of the timeline. You may play the clip here to double-check that everything is okay before exporting.

Figure 4.25. Drag your clip into the timeline and play it to make sure it works. Make sure to drag the clip to the very start of the timeline so that the exported file will begin correctly.
Now that the clip is in the timeline, you can export it as a QuickTime movie file. Choose File, Export, QuickTime. The Export Sequence dialog box opens, offering you choices for exporting, as shown in Figure 4.26.

Figure 4.26. The Export Sequence dialog box in Final Cut Pro. Here you can select the format and settings for the exported movie file.
Choose the DV Stream option for the format, name the file appropriately, and export the movie. Now you have a QuickTime movie that can be imported into Pro Tools.

Changing Movie Offsets

When you first import a movie file, the start time of the movie defaults to the beginning of your session. As discussed earlier, it is not a good idea to have your program material begin right at the start of the session; it's better to have it start a minute or two later in order to allow for pre-roll, test tones, and sync beeps to occur first. If your movie file starts at the very first frame of the program (typical), then you'll need to change the movie start time to be the same as your audio program. With TDM and HD systems, this can be done several ways. The first is using Grid mode . The second is using Spot mode .

Here's how to change movie start times in Pro Tools using Grid mode (for more information on Grid mode, refer to Chapter 6, "Editing to Picture"):

Set the Grid value to 1 frame.
Enter Grid mode (F4 or Grid mode button).
Using the grabber tool, select the movie in the Edit window.
Drag the movie until the left edge lines up with the correct start time (usually 01:00:00:00), as shown in Figure 4.27.

Figure 4.27. Moving a movie file to a new start time in Grid mode.
Let go of the movie region. The start time has now been modified.

And here's how to change movie start times using Spot mode (for more information on Spot mode, refer to Chapter 6, "Editing to Picture"):

Enter Spot mode.
Using the grabber, select the movie in the Edit window.
The Spot dialog box will open, as shown in Figure 4.28. Select Time Code for the Time Scale (or minutes and seconds in LE).

Figure 4.27. Moving a movie file to a new start time in Grid mode.
Enter the new start time and hit the OK button. Voil ! Your movie will start at the new time.

NOTE

TIME CODE AND LE SYSTEMS: YOU CAN STILL DO IT!

Even though Pro Tools LE does not include time code rulers, you can still work with time code and QuickTime movies easily. Once you understand synchronization concepts well, having the time code ruler will no longer be essential. The minutes and seconds ruler will work as a substitute for a time code ruler. If you take one second and divide it by your frame rate, you'll get a measure of how long one frame is in milliseconds . At 29.97fps, a frame is about 33ms (or 1602 samples at 48KHz) long. With this in mind, you can roughly calculate where frames will fall.

Any time I use the time code ruler in this book, simply substitute the minutes and seconds ruler. Granted, this method is not accurate to frame boundaries, but then again, audio timing is more precise than visual timing anyhow. Adjustments smaller than a frame are necessary for good audio timing. In addition, once a QuickTime movie is loaded, you can find frame boundaries by nudging the cursor around until the movie changes one frame. (You'll find more on nudging in Chapter 6.) A time code burn-in window can also substitute for a SMPTE ruler in Pro Tools.

As of this writing, Digidesign has just released an option for Pro Tools LE software called the DV Toolkit. This option unlocks the time code features in Pro Tools LE, includes the DigiTranslator option, and comes bundled with an assortment of post-production-oriented plug-ins.

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Importing Video Files